On Theater: ‘Whipping Man’ packs a wallop
The time is 1865. The Civil War has ended. President Lincoln has been assassinated. Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy, lies in ruins. Amid this devastation, three survivors of the conflict — two ex-slaves and their former master — struggle for survival.
This is the setting for Matthew Lopez’s shattering drama “The Whipping Man,” now being staged at South Coast Repertory under the dynamic directorial hand of Martin Benson, who has been mounting SCR productions for over a half-century.
Contrasts abound, particularly among the two former slaves — an aging, illiterate sage and a more ambitious young man who has taught himself to read and lives by his wits. The onetime master lies in agony, his gangrene-infested leg having been amputated by the elder servant.
Secrets come startlingly to light and, as spoilers, they should not be revealed here. Benson’s production sternly inhabits the play’s darker moments, and there are many, while frequently breaking the tension with a dash of dark humor in this exceptionally riveting drama.
SCR audiences will recognize Charlie Robinson (as the elder servant) from his many noteworthy appearances on the Costa Mesa stage. Robinson takes on a relaxed, avuncular characterization through most of the show before his character is driven into quixotic action at the climax.
No such patience exists in the younger John, rendered vibrantly by Jarrod M. Smith in his first professional appearance on stage. He is a master scavenger — “discovering” is his euphemism for theft — who grows in depth and importance as the play progresses and turns the tide regarding the fate of the others.
Adam Haas Hunter spends most of the play reclining, pained and exhausted after returning from battle and undergoing a horrifying amputation with whiskey as the only anesthetic. Hunter excels as a disillusioned warrior mourning the disappearance of his lover, whose parentage comes as one of the play’s emotional shocks.
The household was Jewish, and both former slaves still practice the faith and conduct a makeshift Passover Seder with Hebrew prayers and readings that will be foreign to most playgoers. Hunter’s character, however, has lost his faith in battle, and his participation is reluctant at best.
All three actors turn in richly structured, depth-laden performances, including the devious bad-boy character rendered by theater rookie Smith. Playwright Lopez has given life and immediacy to a historical period seldom recounted in Civil War plays and movies. Perhaps the postwar Tara in the classic film “Gone With the Wind” approaches this emotional landscape.
As for the title character, he’s not in attendance. He’s solely a reminder of how cruelly slaves were treated before emancipation, as well as the inspiration for a particularly horrific moment of perverse nostalgia.
The setting, one of SCR’s finest, is the savaged Virginia home illuminated by candles and lanterns. Angela Balogh Calin’s period costumes are quite effective, particularly those of Smith, who continues to “move up” in purloined attire. The eerie lighting of Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz lends another ominous note.
“The Whipping Man” is no premiere. Lopez’s play has been among the most widely produced in America in recent years after an honored off-Broadway run. Local audiences now have the chance to experience this gripping drama at South Coast Repertory.
TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot.
IF YOU GO
What: “The Whipping Man”
Where: South Coast Repertory, Julianne Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 7:45 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until Jan. 25 (no evening performance on Jan. 25)
Cost: Starts at $22
Information: (714) 708-5555 or https://www.scr.org
Note: South Coast Repertory’s production of “The Whipping Man” will move to the Pasadena Playhouse from Feb. 3 to March 1.
