\What I did, I did well, and I did for my country.""
These words come not from an accomplished soldier or humanitarian, but from a national murderer. This twisted and melancholy patriotism is the subject of Steven Sondheim's ""Assassins,"" directed by J. Patrick now showing at the Bartell Community Theater, 113 E. Mifflin St.
In his dark musical, Sondheim links the stories of all eight attempted and successful assassinations of U.S. presidents throughout history. Though these killers are viewed as hateful and irrational by the general public today, Sondheim uncovers their motivation with sensitive empathy. ""Assassins"" plunges into the minds of John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, striving to explain their deeds by examining their own personal circumstances.
Musically, ""Assassins"" is not as memorable as Sondheim's other works, including ""Into the Woods"" and ""West Side Story."" But catchy melodies are not the intent in this production'instead the music serves to dramatize and connect the characters' seperate stories, often lending an ironic and sensitive mood to each. In one scene, Charles Guiteau, the man who murdered James Garfield, marches to his execution show-tune style, complete with a top hat and jazz hands. This approach gives Guiteau a fascinating, blind insanity that even in death is still optimistic.
Striving for a passionate cause is not unique to Guiteau'The larger focus of ""Assassins"" is to show how all America's assassins reached for a common ideal. They were all undying in their desire to be part of something important and fervent, as declared by Booth: ""I have given my life for one act. ... Pass on the truth.""
Although their acts spanned across centuries, they often modeled and obsessed over each other. The play personifies the assassination idea in Booth, and his power transcends all others to inspire the likes of John Hinkley, Lynette ""Squeaky"" Fromme and others.
Patrick's production of ""Assassins"" makes the most of the tiny Bartell stage. The actors have universally beautiful and expressive voices, particularly Cooper Grodin, who plays Guiteau, and Nathaniel J. Connor, who plays Booth. Christopher Karbo is a sensitive treasure, portraying the oppressed Leon Czolgost, assassin of William McKinley. And Liz Stattelman-Scanlan of the matinee performance gives welcomed comic relief as the flaky, hilarious Sara Jane Moore, who tried to shoot Gerald Ford. Austere scenery sets Patrick's stage, but the sparse props are remarkably effective. Patrick makes clever and disturbing use of media clips and lighting effects to illustrate his scenes. The glow from a TV, the crumpled newspaper on the sidewalk, and the almost-human KFC bucket all work simply and disturbingly to emphasize Sondheim's themes.
A few idiosyncrasies muddle the overall effect of Patrick's production. His use of the same actor, Chad Grote, for both the narrator-like balladeer and Oswald is confusing and a bit inconclusive. Grote does an excellent job, but watching him morph from an objective character into the infamous Oswald at the play's climax is unsatisfying and unnecessary.
Sondheim himself has used this doubling-up technique before, but here it distracts from his overall message. Perhaps the goal is to demonstrate that anyone under certain circumstances is capable of murdering a president, but for most of the audience this idea is unconvincing.
Though ""Assassins"" draws sympathy and understanding from the murderers, there is still something very foreign and unfathomable about all of them. Since all the lead characters are assassins, the play never makes a personal connection with audience members, leaving them feeling they've been educated rather than moved.
One exception stands out, however, and that is the severity ""Assassins"" holds in light of recent events. After Sept. 11, Sondheim himself postponed an ""Assassins"" revival in New York, largely because of a scene in which Richard Nixon's attempted killer, Samuel Byck, describes his plan to hijack a plane and crash it into the White House. While Scott Stanley's chilling performance is edgy for today's circumstances, Patrick decided to continue with his production, hoping it would bring hope to a fearful country. The final song, ""Something Just Broke,"" tells of the public's reaction to national terror and is painfully reminiscent of America's shock two months ago. The abrupt, powerful ending by the Bartell cast leaves the audience in stunned silence'a reminder of the current times that Sondheim never could have foreseen. For the minimal historian, ""Assassins"" can be a bit confusing as it mixes the prominent assassination stories with the lesser-known ones. But in trying to sort out who killed whom and why, one realizes that these details are not what's important. In ""Assassins,"" the victim is negligible, and the politics are minimal. The real motivation lies in the killers themselves, whom the audience must interpret with an open mind. Patrick's talented cast and crew present ""Assassins"" with unnerving and provocative performances'made not for entertainment, but for coarse enlightenment.
