Baltimore Center Stage: John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only!

This play is stunning.  At the final scene as the barn burst into conflagration and the lights dropped, I was stunned!  In some ways it was also the perfect play to see after last weekend's "We Gather Together".  Both are world premieres.  Both have leading roles held by moderately successful TV actors.  Even if I don't watch television!  (OMG, last weekend I was thinking that I had discovered some new talent in Nic Ashe, and come to find out in his young career he's already amassed a cool million in assets!)  But I digress.  Both freely broke the fourth wall between cast and audience.  Both tackled themes that could easily be seen as controversial.  And both expanded that theme to point out their relevancy in present political malaise.  The primary difference being that "John Wilkes Booth" was well written, and "We Gather Together" wasn't.

The tightness and the cohesion created a space wherein the re-examination, even the rediscovery, of who John Wilkes Booth was, and is, was made not only possible, but compelling.  It painted him neither as a demon nor a hero.  Of all of the takeaways, perhaps the one that was most disturbing, was the possibility that he was simply inevitable.  The person of JWB is the focus, the narrator, and lead thespian in this tale, the conceit of which being that he wrote it and is staging it in order to get his story told correctly.  To assist him he resurrects two of his siblings--a sister, Asia, and his more famous actor brother, Edwin.  Three other actors join in playing various roles from history to members of the stage crew.  The are frequent gaffs and John breaks character to express his frustrations throughout.  But subtly the way in which they are woven together tightens into an amazing tapestry layered with meaning.  We see the bickering relationship between Edwin and John who was always placed within his shadow, and then at the apex moment of his "triumph," John is forced to allow Edwin to assume his character and play the part.  It was nothing short of Shakespearean in the finest intention of that expression.

The cast was to a soul awe inspiring.  I could wax eloquent on all of them, but let me preserve your sanity by only speaking of some.  Ked Merwin plays the barely literate prompter whose physicality held such precision as to appear completely hapless.  He's bumbles through his role without a shred of confidence until suddenly the master (JWB) demands he impersonate himself and deliver a soliloquy in his manner.  Suddenly he is transformed and with the help of visual projections encapsulates 40 years of pre-assassination history detailing the decline and oppression of the Anglo-Saxon White male in early/mid 19th Century America.  It was stunning.  Jordan Boatman as Asia Booth Clarke brought a spontaneity and authenticity to every line she delivered that completely felt as if they had just come to mind.  That she was fully alive in that moment.  That what we were seeing was not theater, but reality.  It was stunning.  Robbie Tann as Edwin Booth was riveting and charming and tender.  He handled the rivalry between the two brothers well, but didn't forget the love, in spite of the heinous crime that is always lurking in the wings.  Stunning...

But wait, it gets better.  Ben Ahlers, whom I'd never heard of in spite of a role in the cast of "The Gilded Age" which I once tried to watch, but just couldn't, Ben was a revelation.  From his first lines, he was possessed by the spirit of John Wilkes Booth.  I don't even know if I can explain it.  It wasn't one single thing--it was EVERYTHING!  Every word, every gesture, every grand movement; the way he held his hands and moved them in the air.  The accent, so subtle and yet so perfectly consistent.  The beguiling charm masking the deep inner turmoil.  The carefully determined idiosyncrasies, little things that when combined create something overwhelming.  Every note building to a crescendo that was both horrifying and perfect.  The performance was sheer genius.  I was so locked into it, that while I felt the humor, I didn't laugh because I didn't want to be distracted. Have you ever felt that way?  Off the top of my head, I can't even tell you the last time I experienced anything like it.

The sets were beautiful, and the transformation from a Ford's Theater-like setting to the tobacco barn in rural Maryland where booth met his end was the ideal transformation in the final moments of the play to take us out of any of the farcical aspects of the play up until then, and place us firmly on the ground for the final moments of JWB's complex life.  To this the lighting, sound, and audio-visuals were also seamlessly spot on.

Additionally, the last couple of things I saw at BCS were disappointing.  Their up-coming season at first glance, likewise didn't catch me.  Perhaps I need to give it another look-over.  It's there until the 22nd of June, and I can't tell those who could enough that you should go and see it.  It was also tell
ing that on a Thursday evening, the theatre was basically sold out.

Ben Ahlers as John Wilkes Booth, who was 26 when he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

John Wilkes Booth overseeing a scene between his young self (Sam Huntsman) and a gypsy fortune teller (Adrienne C. Moore)

Jordan Boatman as Asia Booth Clarke after being asked to portray her mother in a scene, reluctant for where the role may lead.

The line prompter (Ked Merwin) at his moment to shine.

Robbie Tann as Edwin Booth portraying his father, Junius Brutus Booth, who was also an actor.

Adrienne C. Moore as Adelaide, Junius Brutus Booth's first and only legally wed wife.

The band of conspirators: L-R; Adrienne C. Moore, Sam Huntsman, Ben Ahlers, Ked Merwin, Jordan Boatman and Robbie Tann.