Assassins
cast list
Glyn Kerslake, John Barr, Adam Jarrell, Joe Alessi, Nick Holder,
Alison Larnder, Leigh McDonald, Paul Callen, Marc Joseph, Nolan Frederick,
Lisa Stokke, Davis Brooks, Neil Canfer, Anthony Delaney, Hannah Bingham,
Holly Easterbrook
directed by
Michael Strassen
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Sasha Regan's Union Theatre is no stranger to the works of Stephen
Sondheim, having performed Sweeney Todd in 2008 and Company
last year.
To mark the composer's eightieth birthday, it has turned its attention to
Assassins, which first opened off-Broadway in 1990 and remains one of
Sondheim's darkest and most powerful works.
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The show focuses on those who assassinated, or set out to assassinate,
American Presidents. Through a series of ironic songs, such as Everybody's Got The Right To Be Happy and scenes that see historical characters meet
across time and space, it explores the motivations of those who opted for
murder. Although each individual presents their own reasons for their
behaviour, it is ultimately the same story in every case.
Each assassin believes that they are taking a stand against oppression of
the people, when they may only be searching for personal significance. When
Lincoln's assassin, the actor John Wilkes Booth, claims that he was
protesting against Lincoln's trampling of the South, the Balladeer retorts
that his real motivation was the bad reviews he was receiving.
In the compact Union Theatre, with the lighting kept low and a single
presidential podium sufficing for the set, the notion of insignificance
takes on an added dimension as each wretched figure peers through the gloom.
As Nixon's would-be assassin, Samuel Byck (Nick Holder), moves towards his
final goal, the light may shine brightly upon his face but does not even
extend as far as his bald scalp which remains in darkness.
The production also succeeds in exploring the type of immortality that is
imparted upon those who commit murder. As the ensemble sing Something Just
Broke, which shows how everyone can remember the moment that John F.
Kennedy was assassinated, the ambivalent nature of the song is exposed to
the full. As a man starts fondling a woman again within a few seconds of
receiving the news, we realise that the assassination may have been deeply
affecting in the moment, but possibly had little lasting effect on
people.
From among the strong cast, Nolan Frederick as the Balladeer stands out,
as he instils in this 'everyman' an all-seeing, all-knowing
wherewithal. Frederick
is a slick mover and imbues the figure with a strong air of showmanship as
he challenges those who kill, and reveals the ultimate futility of their
'gesture'. Glyn Kerslake also impresses as John Wilkes Booth by making the
character both a nineteenth century actor and a more timeless being who
truly understands what precedent he has just set.
This production also enables Sondheim's own genius to shine through. It
makes Assassins feel just like a Shakespearean tragedy by ensuring
that it contains exactly the same measure of humour. Fair game to Sondheim
for inserting references to songs from West Side Story, a piece for
which he wrote the lyrics, and for composing a musical that could only ever
prove him right. Of course, it is true that each assassin's act ultimately
made them immortal. It even led one of the greatest living musical theatre
writers to make a show all about them.
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London reviews
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Du Goudron et des Plumes, Barbican
King Lear, Roundhouse
Double Falsehood, Union
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Less Than Kind, Jermyn Street
theatre
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