The Whipping Man
Written by Matthew Lopez
Directed by Kimberly Senior
North Shore Center, 9501 Skokie Blvd. (map)
thru Feb 24 | tickets: $25-$72 | more info
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The true cost of freedom
Northlight Theatre presents
The Whipping Man
Review by K.D. Hopkins
As a Black American descendent of the American South, I approached The Whipping Man with both curiosity and vestigial angst over a painful ancestry. Growing up in the 60’s came with a prejudged idea of other cultures both reactionary and handed down. Jewish people were always thought of as very educated, liberal, and generous out of a shared understanding of being enslaved. I had been educated about slavery as a mainly Christian abomination.
I was transfixed from the first lights up, as Caleb de Leon (Derek Gaspar) is literally drags himself home after being in the cesspool that was Petersburg, Virginia during the Civil War. He returns looking for shelter and the succor of his loyal slaves, while still realizing that they have been freed. The house appears empty, and the pain from his wounded leg is so bad that he passes out. Designers Jack Magaw (set) and Christine Binder (lighting) have done an astounding job of recreating the destruction of war and squalor. The candlelight effect is eerie, and there is the added olfactory assault from the subtle smell of smoldering or extinguished flames.
As Gaspar lay on the floor, freed slave Simon (Tim Edward Rhoze) creeps in, brandishing a rifle and gas lamp. He points ‘the business end of the rifle’ at Caleb, who jolts to consciousness. Caleb orders his ex-slave Simon to get him some water. There is a pause where I expect Simon to puff up in his newly liberated state, but he acquiesces when the order changes to a request. Rhoze plays Simon as a man who has always commanded respect and given it even under the pain of the lash and servitude. It seems unusual that Simon refers to Caleb by name without the honorific of ‘Master,’ but we find that the De Leon family has always included their slaves in the rituals of Judaism.
The triumvirate is complete with the arrival of John (Sean Parris), who enters wearing a hood made of sackcloth. John’s hood is both a thumbing of his nose at and an angry parody. John has a thirst for whiskey and it fuels his resentment of Caleb and the looting of his manhood while in slavery. He humorously refers to having ‘discovered’ or ‘liberated’ the homes’ purloined eggs, silverware and china. Parris’ portrayal of John veritably seethes with anger at time wasted and knowledge denied. John is immediately called into the service of holding Caleb down so that Simon can amputate his gangrenous leg. (This scene is now the definitive of harrowing for me in live theater. I wanted a slug of the medicinal whiskey that Caleb was chugging when it was all done. This is not for the faint of heart, but then neither was post Antebellum Virginia.)
The performances in The Whipping Man are astounding. Rhoze, Gaspar, and Parris warily circumvent the new communication between formers. Then the gloves come off. Secrets are revealed; truths are told; loyalties destroyed. The descriptions of the trenches of Petersburg are all but visible as Caleb tells of waking up to the corpse of someone he had spoken to the night before with no place to bury the body as they are already occupying a trench. Gaspar maintains a haunted mien from beginning to end. His Caleb is a ghost of his former self. Gaspar and Parris have the fieriest exchanges. Parris’ character has so many reasons to resent Caleb, and his description of being taken to the “whipping man” is a raw and hideous memory. Parris brings the smell, sounds and pain to vivid life. He reveals Caleb’s participation in the inflicting of torture, which makes the amputation seem almost more retribution than life saving. The retribution continues as John reveals more of Caleb’s secrets. Parris circles Gaspar and they volley back and forth all past hurts and resentments.
These performances are enrapturing. I could not look away even though some of what is said is painful to hear and see. All three actors give top notch performances of beautifully crafted and staged work. I highly recommend that this play be seen by students to get the real deal of slavery and perhaps some new revelations on America’s most shameful past. This is not revisionist history. The Whipping Man tears the genteel veneer off of the gracious South and reveals how history and cultures have been intertwined through trade, miscegenation, and base violence. It’s an educative and riveting entertainment.
Rating: ★★★★
The Whipping Man continues through February 24th at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd. (map), with performances Tuesday thru Sunday. Tickets are $25-$72, and are available by phone (847.673.6300) or online through Tickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at NorthlightTheatre.org. (Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes, includes an intermission).
Photos by Michael Brosilow
artists
cast
Derek Gaspar (Caleb), Sean Parris (John), and Tim Edward Rhoze (Simon)
behind the scenes
Kimberly Senior (director), BJ Jones (artistic director), Jack Magaw (set design), Chris Binder (lighting), Rachel Laritz (costume design), Christopher Kriz (sound design), Eva Breneman (dialect coach), Chris Rickett (violence design), Laura D. Glenn (stage manager), Michael Brosilow (photos)
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