Race and Racism

Victoria Petrosino, New Rep Reviewer

David Mamet’s Race opens in the sparse, professional offices of a three-person law firm. Starbucks coffee cups share desk space with a Macbook and yellow legal pads, while light filters through a wall of beige Venetian blinds.  The action starts when Charles Strickland (Patrick Shea) enters, seeking the aid of lawyers Jack Lawson (Ken Cheeseman) and Henry Brown (Johhnie McQuarley).

Charles, a wealthy, older white man, has been accused of raping a young black woman in his hotel room. As Strickland indignantly protests his innocence, Lawson cynically observes that guilt or innocence doesn’t matter anyway. The jury will find Strickland guilty because he’s white and the woman is black: social conventions and the fear of appearing racist will influence the case more than facts. As the play goes on, these conventions are mocked, defied, and continue to polarize the characters into ever-shifting alliances against one another.

Ken Cheeseman is commanding and expressive as Jack Lawson. He moves with fevered energy and sweeping mannerisms, playing the great puppeteer who continually forces his colleagues to dig deeper and answer the question: “What does a guilty man look like?”  The actor invests brash, passionate disregard for political correctness into every cynical diatribe.  In the climactic finale between Lawson and his protégé Susan, Miranda Craigwell matches Cheeseman’s energy and brazen style, leaving the audience stricken at the abrupt power shift.   

In the 10/19/12 showing of Race, understudy Johnnie McQuarley played the part of lawyer Henry Brown. He expertly captured Brown’s sharp-witted style, playing the perfect foil to Lawson’s world-weary cynicism. He has a unique ability to appear sympathetic, even while cutting through evasions to point out the sordid, racially charged heart of the affair.
Mamet’s play is a compelling dialogue on an issue that plays (and will continue to play) a prominent role in social consciousness. Even after casting all conventions aside, after the characters shout openly about the guilt, shame, and inescapable taboos of racial conventions, nothing is solved.  The play itself concludes abruptly, with no catharsis and no resolution. Its structure mirrors the issue itself: dialogue can only scratch the surface on an issue; the characters still cannot see past race.