Oswald
The assassination of Present Kennedy has haunted this country since its occurrence in 1963. Conspiracy theories and unanswered questions are still prevalent today; few believe in what the government claims to be final and definitive reports.
Accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was interrogated for 12 hours by the Dallas Police. A record of that interrogation does not exist, as neither a stenographer nor audio or video tapes were employed. Playwright Dennis Richard focuses in on that interrogation in an effort, I believe, to shed some new light on what happened between the accused and the arresting officers. However, Mr. Richard fails to illuminate even the basic information that one can obtain from a quick Google search, and does not give the audience any deeper understanding of the nature or inner workings of a man who was undoubtedly totally or partially responsible for such grievous events.
The play opens with Oswald firing rifle shots from what is supposedly a 6th story window; the question of guilt is immediately taken off the boards. The next 115 minutes is occupied with Dallas Police, primarily Captain Will Fritz, attempting to get Oswald’s confession. We discover that although physically puny, Oswald is quite capable of standing up to authority, displaying a defiant nature. We learn nothing else about this character at all. He regularly repeats that his story will come out at the right time and claims he is a “patsy.” But these lines are delivered without mystery or implication; not in the lines themselves nor in the acting or directing are we provoked to expect and even demand some exploration of their meaning. It is announced that Oswald’s mother, brother, and wife are all out in the waiting room. None of them, however, are brought in to enable some discovery of the emotional life, the history, or the psychological underpinnings of Oswald or his family members or even to facilitate reviewing well known facts of Oswald’s history. Authors are allowed some leeway to use their imaginations, but Mr. Richard dared not even scratch the surface of possibilities. Repetitive and shallow, the script is more suited for a half hour’s television show.
Richmond Shepard, who directed this play in New York last summer and was brought out specifically to take the helm in this production, served the material well. He cast well and managed to keep the action moving forward at a clipped pace, giving the production a crisp and slick sheen. I would have appreciated some relief from the repetitive drum beats covering each blackout, and I took exception to the fact that the newsmen were directed for comedy in an otherwise more or less realistic show, but overall Mr. Shepard certainly kept the script lively.
The acting was generally alright. Andrew Perez did well in the role of Lee Harvey Oswald as written; feisty, petulant, unapproachable. David Miller (Captain Will Fritz) is an extremely appealing actor. Unfortunately, there was only one note to his performance; and he sounds exactly like Kevin Costner, something to overcome if he is to make his own mark—which is quite possible since he has such a compelling presence. David Lee Garver (Assistant District Attorney) was passionate but fell in to caricature. The rest of the cast was one-dimensional, but this is the fault of the writing as well as anything else.
The house was full, an aura of professionalism prevailed, and discipline and commitment abounded; but the production doesn’t touch the humanity of any of its characters and ultimately has absolutely nothing new to says or even imply.
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January 14-18, 2012
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