Director James Reynolds captures
the essence of this life as he guides Jed Reynolds and Stephen Rider
in creating indelible characters that sear themselves into your mind.
These actors don’t just perform their lines – they seem to actually live
the torment and angst of their misery, sweeping the audience into the
unforgiving abyss which will define their fate.
One wonders what callous mind
would name his children Booth and Lincoln, but when we learn through their
conversations that the father was a drunk and abandoned them when Lincoln
was 16 and Booth 11 it becomes clear that their past was anything but
joyful. Their mother had left them two years earlier, apparently with
another man. Life forced Lincoln to become a card hustler, scamming people
with a game of three-card monte which had kept him afloat until his best friend
Lenny got killed in a scam gone bad. Though he was considered the best in
the murky business, Lenny’s unexpected death made a deep impact which
caused Lincoln to change his life and get a real job with benefits.
In the irony of ironies he finds
a job in an arcade portraying Honest Abe Lincoln the evening he was shot
by John Wilkes Booth. He dresses in white face, complete with top hat and
beard as customers pay to rent a cap gun and pretend to shoot him in the
balcony of Ford’s Theatre. Where before his greatest fear in life was
getting busted for his scam, he now dreads that he may lose his job if he
is replaced by a mannequin. Jed Reynolds creates a remarkable and
compelling portrait of a man torn with indecision. Though he claims to
fear the loss of his job, we feel his humiliation and loss of dignity as
he portrays Lincoln in white face day in and day out. We can actually
sense his vacillation about returning to the card scam, but we know that
deep inside, the violent death of Lenny is still throbbing in his memory.
Booth, an accomplished petty
thief by now, can’t wait to get into the card hustle. He practices the
three-card monte daily, but knows he’ll never be as good as his older
brother and begs Lincoln to train him. Stephen Rider brings out the
complexities of the younger brother with amazing empathy and
understanding. He is hot headed, impatient and willing to take any risk to
accomplish what he wants. But we can feel the hurt he has suffered from
his family - especially his mother, and his desperate search for some
validation, some affection, some respect. Together, Rider and Reynolds
make you laugh when they talk about their misguided relationships with
women. They make you think when they discuss what may lie ahead in the
uncertain future, and they often bring a discreet lump to your throat as
you see them desperately grasping for an ever evaporating brass ring.
Suzan-Lori Parks created a prize
winning play, so you know going in that the writing, the premise and the
plot will be top notch. When you leave the theatre you know one more thing. You know
that the Fremont Centre Theatre has created one of the most sensitive and
excellent performances of this play, and it’s one that should be rated a
“must see” by any discerning patrons of the theatre.
The play runs through September
18, 2010. Reservations at: (866) 811-4111 (Theatermania)
Online ticketing at:
www.fremontcentretheatre.com
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