Assassin: A Gripping Tale of Morality, Choice and Redemption

By Christine Facciolo

You don’t have to be a football fanatic to appreciate the Delaware Theatre Company’s production of Playing the Assassin.

That’s because Playing the Assassin isn’t really about football — per se.

Playing the Assassin by David Robson.
Photo courtesy of Delaware Theatre Company.

Still there’s plenty of up-close body-slamming action in the form of a spirited — and sometimes disturbing — debate about sports ethics, morality, choice, responsibility, family, race and just about anything else the play’s two characters care to toss into one intermission-less act of conversation/altercation.

The work by Wilmington-based playwright David Robson premiered last year at Rockland County, New York’s Penguin Repertory Theatre under the direction of Joe Brancato, who reprises those duties here in Delaware as do other members of his team, including actors Ezra Knight and Garrett Lee Hendricks.

Knight turns in a gripping performance as Frank, a now-retired football legend whose dirty on-the-field tactics earned him the nickname “The Assassin” and who was responsible for inflicting a devastating in-game injury on an opposing player, rendering him paralyzed from the neck down.

The action takes place in a modern yet not-quite-five-star hotel suite in downtown Chicago. Frank has been flown in by a segment producer from CBS Sports for a much-hyped pre-Super Bowl sit-down with the player he injured years ago.

Robson bases the plot on a real-life incident. During a 1978 pre-season game, Oakland Raider Jack Tatum plowed into New England Patriot Darryl Stingley rendering him a quadriplegic. The two men never spoke again. The incident became a symbol of violence in football, tainting Tatum’s legacy right up to his death in 2010. (The incident was prominently displayed in the headline to his obituary.)

Playing the Assassin is the product of Robson’s musings about what might have taken place if the two players had met and attempted a reconciliation.

Hendricks plays Lewis, the suited-up, buttoned-down, eager-to-please (if somewhat green) producer charged with convincing Frank to sign a contract for the no-holds-barred interview which is to include an apology. Lewis seems a bit too interested in the details of the accident, the reason for which comes through later in the play. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game between the vainglorious Frank and the persistent Lewis, culminating in a demonstration of Frank’s tackling prowess which turns shockingly violent.

Frank grows increasingly suspicious of Lewis, accusing him of lying about the other party’s willingness to participate in the interview. In the midst of it all, we learn that Frank has written his memoirs which make no mention of the tragic incident that captured international media attention.

Both actors manage worthy and durable performances as their characters evolve through a series of striking revelations and twists of fate that at times seem strained and contrived.

Knight is a standout in the meatier of the two roles. He deftly combines the swagger of his past glory with the stark reality of his diminished physicality and a deep-seated guilt and anger over an incident that has shadowed him and tainted his legacy.

Hicks initially presents Lewis an affable production assistant but gradually blends in a hostility that presages a deep-seated resentment and belligerence.

Robson does not directly address some of the weightier issues facing football today, namely, fan complicity in the glorification of gridiron violence and the league’s failure to prepare players — especially injured players — for life after the big leagues.

But then, Robson didn’t set out to write a play about football. Just a story about two men who at the sound of the two-minute warning need to make a play for redemption before the clock runs out.

Playing The Assassin runs at Delaware Theatre Company through November 8.

Bootless Delivers Theater for Sci-Fi Geeks, with Star Wars, a New Musical Hope

By Guest Blogger, JulieAnne Cross
JulieAnne is a Wilmington-area do-gooder, specializing in public relations, communications and events, with a focus on the dining industry. Her first arts job was in the opera industry two decades ago, and she famously states that her “only talent is pushing pencils.”

As a regular patron of Bootless Stageworks’ productions, I look forward to seeing the schedule every year. Familiar pop culture stories appear in some shape or another, year after year: Evil Dead (four times now?), Terminator the Second, Musical of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Musical, Jerry Springer, the Opera. I had seen a Bootless production of Star Wars, a New Musical Hope in 2012 and when they announced its return, I was certain I’d see it again.

Although I’d never honor myself with the label of 'sci-fi geek,' the Star Wars movies have, for years, created a common ground for family-time entertainment choices with my now 14-year-old son. While he was all weapons and action figures and play fighting, I was all art and theater and film, and Star Wars was a terrific compromise. Nevertheless, he became my “theater buddy” from a young age, seeing countless Shakespeare productions, literary classics and Broadway hits starting around age 4. Whimsical productions, such as what Bootless offers, ensured there was some payoff for him during those awkward years when I had to push a little harder to get my theater buddy on board with my entertainment plans.

This production was a musical parody of Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, scripted by local playwright, Jeremy Gable, and with music by Timothy Edward Smith and Hunter Nolen. The cast consisted of Caleb Duffy (Luke), Shaun Yates (Obi-Wan Kenobi), James Fuerst (Darth Vader), Ryan PJ Mulholland (Han), Maria Leonetti (Leia), Christopher Waters (C3P0), and Bob Ferst (a 7-foot-tall Chewbacca) as well as Wes Belli, AJ DellAversano, Bob Demarco, Mark Dixon, Mariza Esperanza, Robin Fanelli, Shamus Halloran, Shawn Kline, Andrew Laino, Tom McCarthy, Sean McGuire, Samantha Moscony, James Scotland, Luka Villani and Sedric Willis. Rosanne Dellaversano directed.

What I’ve come to expect from Bootless when they stage a parody is home-spun special effects created with a sustainable, 80-seat theater budget. There is a certain level of amusement that comes from seeing how Bootless delivers on something a Hollywood director had tens of millions to spend on. (Oh, the amount of cardboard used in Terminator the Second! Such a contrast to the Shakespearean dialogue.) I’d like to think I can suspend disbelief more easily for a sustainable budget than I can for a behemoth, and I know I’m not the only one who loved Bootless’ solution to the car chase challenge in Terminator the Second.

For Star Wars, the MOE 365 FIRST Robotics Team created a robotic R2D2. It was thrilling to see it roll out of stage right unassisted on opening night, and none too surprising to hear the mechanical parts struggling as it failed to roll back out again at the end of the scene. To be clear: PLEASE TRY THIS AGAIN NEXT TIME, BOOTLESS! I love your risk-taking and whimsy and I’d rather see Anthony crouching down to save R2 from falling over during the scene than see you not take the risk.

Bootless made effective use of several video projections, and a simple structure representing the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon did the trick for travel scenes. Otherwise, the staging was fairly sparse; given the number of people who needed to be on stage together during some scenes, this was understandable. The trash compactor scene was well-executed with the old Kuroko-holding-a-moving-wall trick.

When you know a story as well as I know Star Wars, it can be challenging to stay “in the moment” and one’s mind focuses on funny little details. I could not figure out why the heck Obi-Wan’s sleeves were tucked into his robe, until he “disappeared” through the left curtain, leaving his robe in the familiar puddle that marked his mortal exit in the film. I’m laughing now as I write about it…very cute. Other costuming and staging details that entertained: the brown creature consuming a dead Greedo in the Cantina, the purposely repeated scenes with the same two actors behind the bar/control panel, the tiny skeletons after the Tattooine slaughter, Luke’s blindfolded piñata-esque training scene. The Chewbacca costume was excellent, and Ferst managed his stilts masterfully. I was certain C3PO was going to inadvertently drop trou, a couple of the Stormtroopers had camel-toe, and I really wanted Leia to have boots instead of ballet flats, but we’re talking about sustainable theater, not obsessive cosplay.

I recall past productions where Bootless incorporated live music and I look forward to more of that; if a theater has to use canned music, making sure it works well is key, and I don’t recall any technological distractions, volume was just right, speaker quality was good, etc. Lighting was equally digestible.

Bootless had artist Blair Webb drawing live on site, having designed the promotional art of the production. The costumed cast came out after the show for photo opportunities. These were extra special touches for sci-fi fans and theater lovers alike. The stage speech was intentionally drawn out: a large party was stuck in traffic and their post-start arrival would have been disruptive to the rest of the audience.

Although I enjoyed some of their previous venues, it is nice the Bootless has found a stable home at St. Stephen’s Church. Online ticketing now includes seat selection, which is extraordinary for a theater this size. Pricing is affordable. I have never yet had difficulty finding parking in the vicinity of 13th and Broom. All in all, Bootless consistently offers a good customer experience. (Not to mention their traditional “splatter zone” seating for gore-themed productions.)

The run for this show has ended, but be sure to check out Bootless’ production of The Light in the Piazza – a “nearly operatic” musical, including some Italian language singing –starting November 6. 

See www.bootless.org. 

Mélomanie and The (Conscious) Universe Come Together

By Christine Facciolo

Mélomanie performs with guest artists
Kevin J. Cope, composer/guitarist and Todd Thiel, cello. 

Music and physics have a long and storied relationship. The Greeks used musical constructions to explain the orbits of the planets. Even today, popular science books like Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe use musical analogies to explain string theory.

So it came as no surprise when composer/guitarist Kevin J. Cope told the audience for Mélomanie on Sunday that his passion for physics and cosmology provided the inspiration for "Conscium Universum (The Conscious Universe)," the work written especially for and premiered by the ensemble at its October concerts.

The composition features musical depictions of four major discoveries: The Copernican Revolution (multiple, revolving melodies); Einsteinian Relativity (rhythms that illustrate time slippage); Quantum Mechanics (melodic particles tossed among the instruments) and Hubble’s Law (simple melodies that slowly drift away from each other).

Needless to say, the musicians had a lot of fun with this piece, especially Richardson who played a “drunk dance” on the harpsichord in the second section.

The concert also featured Cope performing another of his compositions, “Kuitra,” for solo guitar. The guitar is not an instrument that gets a lot of attention from contemporary classical composers. Many are wary of its idiosyncrasies and limitations, unless, of course, like Cope, they hold a master’s degree in guitar performance.

Kuitra is a mesmerizing piece, written at a time when Cope had an abiding interest in Arabian harmonies. But not so much that he wasn’t averse to season it with a bit of the Latin.

Mélomanie violinist Christof Richter and guest cellist Todd Thiel teamed up to offer a picture of Hungary with a performance of Hungarian Folk Melodies by Bela Bartok. These duos are relatively modest Bartok but each has so much dimension and incident that it constitutes a remarkably miniature world. Richter and Thiel play in full classical tone but without smoothing over the rough edges, imparting a rustic quality to the performance.

Richardson and Cope came together to perform two rarely heard gems from the Beethoven catalog: the Sonatina in C Minor and the Adagio in E-Flat Major. These pieces were originally scored for harpsichord and mandolin, an instrument that was enjoying a period of popularity among the cultured nobility when Beethoven was a young composer. Both are charming pieces that reveal the nature of salon music in 18th Century Vienna and the budding talents of the young composer.

Rounding out the program were a Sonata in A Minor by Telemann whose chamber works were well-known for their considerable panache and Quantz’s Quartet No. 5 in C Major, a splendidly vigorous and inventive contrapuntal work, quite different in style from his rather gallant flute concertos.

The ensemble performs the concert again on Sunday, October 25, at the Smyrna Opera House, in partnership with Gable Music Ventures. Tickets for that performance are still available at www.brownpapertickets.com. 

See www.melomanie.org.