THE CIVIL WAR, WITH ROSY CHEEKS
                        And Mary Todd Lincoln Splurging 
                                                    By V.I. Hambleton
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater
                                                                 Weeks starting Dec.11, 2009
                                                                 Vol. 12, No. 45
            PALO ALTO---Just what you always wanted, an upbeat civil war! That’s the menu at TheatreWorks’ slightly improbable, slightly lengthy  “Civil War Christmas.”
            The Civil War and cheerful Christmas music are an unlikely combination, but playwright Paula Vogel has woven them into an evening’s entertainment.  It is December, 1864, a chilly Christmas Eve in Washington, DC,  and scenes picturing what historic characters might have been saying and doing on that night are interspersed with Christmas carols and folk melodies common at the time.             Abraham Lincoln has just been re-elected to the presidency, but the war is now in its fourth year and the mood of the nation is somber.  As night falls Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant are hunkered down with their exhausted troops. William Tecumseh Sherman wants to make his conquest of Savannah a Christmas present for the President.  Lincoln himself chooses to get away from his worries for the evening and ride his horse to a spot out of town where he left the pair of gloves he bought for his wife as a Christmas present.                 Mary Todd Lincoln is out shopping with a friend, spending too much money, and buying a Christmas Tree—a new custom she has heard about.  Walt Whitman appears among the weary troops praising them.  Clara Barton, (who later founded the Red Cross), provides care to the wounded,  And we see John Wilkes Booth and a couple of his buddies  meeting in Mary Surratt’s boarding house,  plotting the deed.
            To the historic figures Ms. Vogel has added an array of fictional characters representing the racial, religious, and economic class diversity in the Washington of the day. Decatur Bronson is a blacksmith for the Union Army, grieving the loss of his wife, Rose, who was kidnapped by Confederate troops.  Hannah and Jessa, mother and daughter, are escaped slaves following ”the drinking gourd” in an effort to get to Washington and freedom.  Moses Levy is a wounded soldier and a Jew (prompting a lovely rendition of a mourner’s Kaddish.)
             Playwright Vogel has researched the period carefully.  She says “I was brought up on Christmas carols, spirituals and Civil War ballads because, growing up in Washington, D.C., you go to every Civil War battlefield on school field trips.  These are songs that I knew from childhood.  The plot is really there to bring forth these songs.”
            The songs are in fact the source of the greatest pleasure of the evening.  There are twenty five (or so), a mixture of familiar Christmas carols and  less familiar marching songs sung by soldiers and folk songs.  Under the skilled direction of TheatreWorks resident Music Director William Liberatore, staging and rendition of the musical numbers are excellent.  Joe Ragey, Scenic Designer, has created a set that allows for the variety and speed of scene changes, and Fumiko Bielefeldt’s  costumes convey the period realistically.
            Fourteen actors play more than 100 characters. Michael A. Shepperd is a forceful  and convincing Decatur Bronson,  His may be the largest role in the production, and his songs in a rich and resonant baritone stand out.  A lanky Robert Parsons is President Lincoln, suitably topped with a black stovepipe hat.  Mary Todd Lincoln is played by Diana Torres Koss, conveying the well-intentioned but flighty character described in our history books.  Tracy Kamp as Hannah, the runaway slave, and Myha’la Herrold and Tiana Travis who alternate in the role of Jessa, give strong performances.  Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks’ Artistic Director, directed this production.
            There are 64 scenes.  Obviously, they move quickly.  At times characters act as narrators, telling us what is coming next, or bringing us up to date on Hannah’s progress, for example.  There is a kind of choppiness that detracts.  Given a two-and-a-half-hour running time, some trimming of the story line would achieve  greater coherence.
            “Civil War Christmas.” This TheatreWorks production with music takes place at the Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto, through December 27.  For info: (650) 463-1960, or go online. 

                                    #
        © V.I. Hambleton 2009
            V.I. Hambleton is a regular theater reviewer for artssf.com.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly)focus on theater, dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into recordings by local artists, and a few departures into books (by authors of the region)as well.
                      #
                    Return to main menu