Signature Does A Bang-Up Job With Assassins
With a title like Assassins, theatergoers probably walk into Signature Theater’s latest production thinking that they’re going to be witnessing something very removed from their everyday lives (well, unless one of them happens secretly to be planning a political murder). After all, how much does the typical D.C. resident really have in common with John Wilkes Booth?
Then the American-flag curtain is raised, and we find ourselves staring back at a mirror image of a theatre, exactly like our own, with a colorful group of characters sitting in the same folding chairs we are. This effect, just one example of Signature’s formidable staging of a brilliant show, crystallizes one of the provocative themes of this Stephen Sondheim masterpiece: people like Lee Harvey Oswald believe they have the "right to be happy" just like we do - but when the American dream lets them down, they take it out on the country’s leader.
Well, that doesn’t completely explain things. And, in fact, nothing is crystal clear or perfectly didactic in this show, and that’s part of its mastery. Sondheim dangles his share of weighty ideas, in intense numbers such as "Another National Anthem," where the show’s acting narrator, the Balladeer (Stephen Gregory Smith) throws out treacly tales of good fortune ("The mailman won the lottery!"), which the assassins spit back in his face, crying, "It’s never gonna happen!" Assassins is a show that is both disquieting and hilarious, and it’s a delicate balance for any cast and director to make sure that both aspects get equal weight.
Signature’s production is more than up to the challenge. Each number is craftily staged, and never limited by its backdrop of audience-facing chairs, which remains in place from opening curtain on; the assassins occasionally venture into the audience as well. There are some assaulting surprises – as Garfield-killer Charles Guiteau (played impressively with wild eyes and jazz hands by Mika Duncan) dances around stage, proclaiming "I am going to the Lordy!", on the final note of the song, we’re instantly transported to the brutal reality of his execution. Scattered throughout the show are frequent gunshots and scenes where weapons are pointed straight towards us, sometimes for eerie effect and other times for comedy; this keeps us uneasy even as we’re laughing. Another moving moment is the beautiful ballad "Unworthy Of Your Love," a gentle unrequited love duet on its surface, which hits a chilling crescendo as its two singers come together centerstage: Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who went after Gerald Ford to impress her satanic lover, Charles Manson, and John Hinckley Jr., who thought shooting Ronald Reagan would win him the heart of Jodie Foster. "Tonight, Tonight," it ain’t.
Signature’s stellar cast lacks a weak link (Smith could stand to project and emote a little more as the Balladeer, but makes for such a sympathetic Lee Harvey Oswald later in the show that it’s easily forgotten). One of the show's treasures is the unlikely friendship between Fromme (an off-her-rocker Erin Driscoll, who again shows off her own brand of high-pitched hilarity last showcased in Urinetown) and her literal partner in crime, Sarah Jane Moore (Donna Migliaccio, who makes the most of a well-written character), a slapstick duo for the history books if there ever was one. Will Gartshore’s angry but gentlemanly John Wilkes Booth functions as a Lucifer of sorts, weaving his way through time and tempting his Assassin heirs to pull the trigger. Andy Brownstein as the blustering, Nixon-hating Samuel Byck, lends a sort of everyman appeal to what can be an exhaustingly irritating and unsympathetic character. Even Signature’s orchestra winds its way easily through Sondheim’s meandering melodies.
If Assassins isn’t embraced with the same kind of fervor as Signature’s triumphant Urinetown from last year, DCist may have to resort to desperate measures. Not that we’re saying George W. Bush should watch his back…but the show did teach us that all you have to do is move your little finger, and you can change the world.
Assassins runs through July 23 at Signature Theatre. Tickets are available on the company’s web site.