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A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
The Andersonville Trial
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"I have no guilt of conscience. None whatsoever" .—Henry Wirz
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Photo credit: (L-R) Mark Belnick and Ian Patrick Williams (Photo credit: Ed Krieger)
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For all of the play's built-in tinder, however, Wasatch Theatrical Venture's revival of The Andersonville Trial rarely ignites. Gary Lee Reed's bare-bones production at the Grove Theatre Center feels choppy and unfocused, failing to consistently breathe life into a play that may not be aging gracefully.
Andersonville's original Broadway production ran for 179 performances, spawning a TV film adaptation. That venture undoubtedly benefited from the presence George C. Scott who played Chipman, the officer prosecuting the administrator of a Confederate prison where more than 14,000 Union soldiers died due to neglect, disease and brutality. The highly conflicted Chipman isn't out for one man's blood. He wants an acknowledgment that human decency should trump inhuman orders even from one's superior, and even during wartime. Good solider though he is, Chipman also recognizes the fuzzy justice of putting one man on trial for the war crimes of an entire nation.
An audience should feel every pang of Chipman's dilemma, and in WTV's production, Mark Belnick makes Chipman's conflict evident but not very interesting. Amidst Levitt's heavy-handed repetition of the play's messaging, our allegiances shift in favor of Captain Henry Wirz, the defendant whose life hangs in the balance. As Wirz, Ian Patrick Williams's work is sturdier than many of his castmates (several of whom were fumbling lines on opening night), and Williams infuses the character with enough defiance to keep Wirz from being an outright martyr.
The play is set in Washington D.C. in the summer of 1865, four months after President Lincoln's assassination. The Civil War may be over and Reconstruction underway, but the nation's wounds are far from being healed, and General Lew Wallace, the President of the Court presiding over the case (Greg Allan Martin) won't even let Lincoln's name be evoked in the courtroom.
Wirz, the former commandant at Andersonville, stands accused of causing the deaths of thousands via neglect, disease or starvation and, in certain cases, of personally brutalizing prisoners. While awaiting his trial, the weakened Wirz has attempted suicide and is under a doctor's care. When he arrives in the courtroom, Wirz is permitted to lay on a couch.
Set entirely within the Court of Claims in Washington D.C., the play contains practically no action that is not directly part of the trial. Levitt's language is taken from the official court record and is therefore formal, occasionally stuffy and certainly of the period. Nonetheless, in what has become the modus operandi of courtroom dramas, we get the formulaic parade of witnesses (some surprising), cross examinations, outbursts and a climactic showdown &emdash; in this case between Chipman and Wirz.
Joe Colligan makes Wirz's defense counsel, Baker, a solidly by-the-book soldier, and Edmund Wyson is similarly on target as Bates, the doctor who provides care to Wirz and testifies against him. Among his cast, Reed has two key players (Belnick and Martin) who are working attorneys when they are not treading the boards.
The play contains 14 speaking roles and about a dozen others. By necessity, WTV's production doubles up roles and shoehorns the proceedings into a tight set (designed by Reed). The director strategically flashes a few slides of emaciated prisoners to try to bring home some of the themes, but the spatial confines of the performance space barely allow for even that amount of technical flourish.
Kudos certainly to Wasatch Theatrical Ventures' dedication to American plays both classic and up-and-coming. The Andersonville Trial may have been a tempting work for reexamination, but given the uneven performances, a not-so-friendly performance space and a script that feels talky and dated, the experience is anything but urgent.
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The Andersonville Trial By Saul Levitt Directed by Gary Lee Reed Produced by Wasatch Theatrical Ventures and Raquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners Cast: Gary Ballard, Mark Belnick, Gary Clemer, Joe Corrigan, Jack Kennedy, Lon S. Lewi, Greg Allan Martin, Jan-David Soutar, Ian Patrick Williams, Robbie Winston, Edmund Wyson. Scenic Designer: Gary Lee Reed Costume Designer: Wendell C. Carmichael Lighting Designer: Matthew Richter Sound Designer: David B. Marling Prop Master: Bonnie Bailey Reed Stage Manager: Rita Cofield Plays through April 10, 2016 at the Grove Theatre Center, 1111-B West Olive Ave., Burbank. (323) 960-7738, www.plays411.com/andersonville Running time: Two hours, with one intermission Reviewed by Evan Henerson |
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