Nick Westrate (L) and LeRoy McClain face off in The Whipping Man at Barrington Stage Company.
Wounds, old and new, are opened, discussed and even amputated in Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man which received its New England premiere last night at Barrington Stage Company. The opening night audience, which is normally a bit guarded was clearly moved by this crackling and electrifying drama. There was long and thunderous applause, and cheering. Real “game-on” cheering.
The Whipping Man is an evening of theatre that reaches deep into our psyches and souls. Over the course of two hours and five scenes, we witness three men, a master and two slaves engage in a timeless clash between good and evil, right and wrong.
The play takes place in April 1865, just after the Confederacy surrenders at Appomattox. Captain Caleb DeLeon (Nick Westrate) staggers home, wounded, to discover his house has also been a victim of the war. Long time slave Simon (Clarke Peters) is now free, and guarding what is left of the family’s mansion. Soon Caleb’s childhood friend John (LeRoy McClain) arrives, carrying a bag of looted items he “discovered”. Mostly it is whisky, and later in the Seder scene, he finds some wine.
Clarke Peters (l) and LeRoy McClain don't see eye to eye.
Whether Lopez intended for alcohol to become a central character in the play, I don’t know. But there is hardly a moment that someone isn’t swilling it down, grasping a bottle or talking about whether there is enough. At first the whiskey is used as the anesthetic and antiseptic for the removal of Caleb’s gangrenous leg. As the play develops it is the lubricant that loosens tongues, tales and remorse.
The inherent conflict of Jews owning slaves – when they had once been enslaved themselves by the Pharaoh – propels much of the action of this work.
John says: “It certainly got me to thinking. Were we Jews or were we slaves? Were we the children of Israel or we just the heathen that were round about you? Because, if Simon and I were Jews and you owned us, what does that make you? Seems to set your claims to faith directly against ours,”
As the play begins the slaves are now free. Director Christopher Innvar keeps the unraveling moving at breakneck speed. Except for one short flashback in which Caleb reveals his love letters, everything takes place in one room, with the soldier immobilized by his amputation.
Clarke Peters (l) and Nick Westrate (r) in The Whipping Man.
The three actors function brilliantly together, like a precision instrument, despite the fact that they are of three completely different dispositions. As Simon, Clarke Peters delivers a controlled performance that rises in temperature as the evening progresses. His character seems to have been the perfect, obedient slave, and he has remained the most faithful to the Jewish faith he acquired. He questions, and he obeys. He is illiterate, but has a moral clarity that is the beacon of this play.
As John, LeRoy McClain has problems with life, with ethics and with the bottle. His ill advised actions have locked him in place, for even as the slaves have become free men, he is trapped by his past, and his own self-defeating actions. As an actor he rages, he sulks. Then takes another swig. He illuminates the futility of someone who learned to read and devoured books, yet learned nothing from the effort.
Nick Westrate’s portrayal of Caleb is disturbing in its sadness. Through him we come to see the horrors of war. It is not the amputation of a leg that hurt him the most, but that his prayers on the battlefield went unanswered. In the end he abandoned his god, his fellow soldiers, and, as he returns home to find the woman he loves (a slave) gone, his hopes and dreams are also crushed.
The set by Sandra Goldmark is deceptively simple. Details like soot and burnt out candles are everywhere, and the lighting by Scott Pinkney creates a feeling of realism. The costumes by Kristina Lucka include some real gems borrowed from TDF’s Costume Collection, and blended nicely with those made by her crew. All were disgustingly and appropriately grimy.
LeRoy McClain as John, wearing a stolen coat he "liberated."
The only misfires were in the sound, which warped some of the guitar music which was used as a bridge between scenes, and whose thunder lacked the realism that a powerful subwoofer could have provided. And while the Stage II space on Linden Street is comfortable and intimate, it has problems. With scenes like the Seder played on the floor, much of the action is blocked by patrons in front of you. Yet it is hard to raise the stage a foot or two because the ceiling is also low. Such is the problem of performance spaces carved out of non-theatrical buildings.
Director Innvar solved this problem by limiting the length of time the actors were sitting on the floor, getting first John, then Simon up on their feet, and the recuperating Caleb back on his bed.
When I first heard the play was about the Civil War and Jewish slave holders, I wondered what it could possibly have to say about today. A great deal as it turns out. 150 years later and we are a nation still at war, with casualties arriving home without legs every day. And the religious pablum preached from the pulpit rarely holds up for those in combat. War is not a battle of the gods, but of men. And with the madness of war all around us, it is hard to keep one’s bearings.
The Whipping Man reveals not only the scars of slavery, and war, but also offers the clarity of redemption for those who live their lives honestly, and free. Don’t miss it. It’s going to be a sellout. www.barringtonstageco.org
Full stage view of The Whipping Man
Barrington Stage Company presents The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez. Directed by Christopher Innvar. Scenic Designer – Sandra Goldmark, Costume Designer – Kristina Lucka, Lighting Designer – Scott Pinkney, Sound Designer – Brad Berridge, Press Representative – Charlie Siedenburg, Casting Pat McCorkle, CSA, Stage Manager – Kate J. Cudworth.
Cast: Caleb – Nick Westrate, Simon – Clarke Peters, John – LeRoy McClain.
Two acts, five scenes. About two hours with intermission. At Barrington Stage Company Stage II, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA. May 26-June 17, 2010.
