David Mamet tackles Race

by Frank Furnari, New Rep Reviewer

Race, David Mamet’s 90 minute, three-scene play about race in America is typical Mamet – brash, abrupt, filled with interrupted, repeated dialogue and bad language.  The play begins abruptly, in the middle of the action, at a law firm.  We meet Charles Strickland (played by Patrick Shea) asking the lawyers to take on his case.  He is accused of raping an African American woman (Charles is white).  The law firm consists of three lawyers, one white, Jack Lawson (Ken Cheeseman), and two black, Henry Brown (Cliffe Odle) and Susan (Miranda Craigwell) – a young woman who has recently completed law school.  As the play continues and the firm decides how to tackle Strickland's case, details emerge both about Strickland and about the lawyers.  I couldn't help but think of the musical Chicago with the way the lawyers explained the legal system and how there is no truth in the legal process.  While this is a very different piece, I was reminded of the song in Chicago – Give em' the ole dazzle dazzle - this is a similar idea, but in a much darker sense.  The play continues until, as Mamet explains in a New York Times piece reprinted in the program – the lie is exposed.  Shortly after the lie is exposed (it will likely not be the lie you are expecting), the play ends just as abruptly as it beings.  No neat or happy ending here.  

Director Robert Walsh assembles a stellar cast for this production. Ken Cheeseman's portrayal of Jack is a great mix of sleazy and smart, an astute lawyer and he really shines in scenes with the young lawyer Susan.  The two have great chemistry together.  The pacing is quick, almost too quick at times – while you are laughing at one line, you’ve missed the next three.  The actors are great with the dialogue and keeping things moving – they really make the piece an engaging one.  Janie E. Howland's set design effectively conveys the feel of a successful law firm's offices; it is professional, yet not over the top.  Along the walls of the office were vertical blinds that sounded as if they were shifting after each scene.  The effect, however, was pretty much lost on me until the final scene where they served to isolate the room from the rest of the office.  

While the play does make for an interesting evening of theatre, I'm unsure what Mamet hopes to add to the discussion on the subject that hasn't been said many times.  Race factors into many (all?) of our interactions, sometimes in more pronounced ways than others, and people can use that to their advantage – again, nothing new.  As Mamet states, we don't know when this struggle will be over, but it continue "until fatigue, remorse and finally forgiveness bring resolution."  His play, like the state of our country today, does not offer resolution, but hopefully continues the dialogue.