4 stars
Before the late, great Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) came on the scene music theatre was the province of feel good, unchallenging, escapist entertainment. Sondheim turned things around, writing musicals about difficult subject matters. He was a provocateur, asking people to turn their minds to things they would rather not think about. And he did so with consummate skill, with music and lyrics of the highest level.
In ASSASSINS (1990) his subject is guns, and in particular, some of the pernicious characters who have tried to assassinate, some successfully, American Presidents. The subject of guns and gun control is, of-course, still very much a live issue in America, with no sign of any improvement or resolution any time soon.
ASSASSINS starts in a circus sideshow setting. One of the stall proprietors runs an act where punters are invited to come and grab a rifle and try and shoot down an American President as they pass by the screen. The plays’ real life characters are drawn to the game like moths to a flame. From there Sondheim, and John Weldman who wrote the book, have the characters interact with each another, often one one, in a mishmash of different time periods settings. It is very anarchic in style. The action never stops until it reaches a grim and wholly confronting conclusion.
Sondheim’s songs are direct and unmistakable. He starts on ‘the front foot’ with the opening song, ‘Everybody’s Got The Right’ displays the characters utter conviction that, because they are living in America, they can do anything they like to live the American Dream. This conviction also extends to their absolute entitlement to have guns and if they can only achieve fame by assassinating an American President, so be it!
The bizarreness of the characters extends from proudly claiming a love for Charles Manson, to taking their child with them when they are attempting an assassination, to, out of the blue, contacting Leonard Bernstein and saying that they have musical genius.
Miriam Rihani directed the production, clearly a passion project, well. She never let the audience off the hook. It was compelling viewing as Sondheim’s bizarre scenario unfolded.
A stellar cast never dropped their intensity or their commitment to their characters. Theirs singing matched the quality of their acting. Each of these weirdos they played were worthy of a play in their own right!
James Burchett played the Balladeer who was a narrator of sorts, who fills us in/briefs us about each of the oddballs. The Balladeer morphs in to Lee Harvey Oswald, who it is believed assassinate President John F Kennedy, near the plays end
Austin Burrows played the proprietor of the sideshow alley who is the conduit that brings all these screwballs together.
Jay Cullen is John Wilkes Booth whose claim to fame is not only that he assassinated President Lincoln but that he was the first to assassinate an American President, a badge of honour for this motley, guiless crew of assassins and failed assassins.
Blake O’Brien played Charles Guiteau who assassinated President James Garfield whilst he was waiting in. the Baltimore railway station.
Max Waterson played Leon Czolgosz who assassinate President McKinley whilst he was in a public reception in New York.
Konrad Zangara played Giuseppe Zangarra who tried to knock off President Roosevelt whilst he was greeting well wishers at a park in Miami.
Tommy James Green played Samuel Byck who tried to assassinate President Nixon by hijacking a commercial plane that he intended to crash in to the White House. This was well before Osman Bin Laden!
Heath Anderson played John Hinckley who tried to assassinate President Reagan as he left a hotel in Washington. If you remember, Hinckley was the oddball who was also obsessed with the movie star Jodie Foster.
Emma Flynn as Lynette Fromme and Melissa Glinn as Sara Jane Moore had the dubious honour of both failing, on separate occasions, to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
Rounding out the cast were Marie Hagen as Emma Goldman and Ensemble, Emma Gibbons as Housewife and Ensemble. Gaspard Lai-Montigny as Billy, and Hugo Allen, Natasha Cheng and Keiden Cheung who were each part of the Ensemble.
Rihani designed the set with Louise Colin, choreography by Emma Gibbons, lighting by Michael Dalton, sound design by Byron Rowley and conducting by Gianna Cheung who also played keyboards along with Ziv Pinco, with Oliver Gardiner playing the drums together with Harrison Cleary. The musicians played to the side of the stage.
Well worth a visit. Sondheim’s study of an unhealthy group of characters who have lost touch with reality is compelling. Set your sights on seeing ASSASSINS. The show was yet another example of how good the quality of many community theatre productions in Sydney are.
Lane Cove Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s ASSASSINS, with book by John Weldman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert Jnr, is playing The Performance Space at St Aidan’s, 1 Christina Street, Longueville until Sunday 28th May 2023. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7.30pm and Sundays at 2pm.
Production photographers Jim Crew and Robert Schaverien