The Whipping Man is ugly and hard and absolutely stunning. Currently playing at the St. Louis Black Repertory, it's about slavery. Slavery, that is, over many millenia.
It's April of 1865, the Civil War has just ended, of course, and it's Richmond, Virginia. There's the slavery Americans tend to think about, over, at least legally, at last. And here's a Jewish family who have owned slaves for generations, their house barely standing and its denizens scattered.
The son of the house, wounded, drags himself home, a haggard example of the horrors of America's worst war. Two of the former slaves remain on the premises. They, like their parents before them, have been raised as observant Jews, and that, at least, remains unchanged despite their newfound status as freedmen. But the power has shifted dramatically, and how does one treat the person who once owned them the way he owned his hunting dogs?
And in this spring with green shoots of burgeoning hope and dramatic developments comes Passover, the celebration of being delivered from slavery. Yes, that was Egypt and the masters then were pharaonic, but since Moses had there ever been a Passover when the celebration was more vivid and heartfelt – even if the bitter herbs and shank bone were not quite the traditional ones?
Good casting in all three roles, but it's led by the Black Rep's own Ron Himes as Simon, who in prewar days must have carried sufficient gravitas in his household position to make Downton Abbey's Carson look like Woody Allen. The challenges of the war and the emancipation have given him knowledge and strength beyond that role, and Himes shows it all with great control. As the son, Justin Ivan Brown carries off things with the disadvantage of being immobile for nearly the entire show. Ron Conner played Martin Luther King earlier this year in "Mountaintop" on this same stage. It's hard to believe this is the same Ron Conner playing the younger ex-slave, John, the role is so different, but it seems no stretch for him at all.
In the first act, in particular, this is a difficult play for the squeamish. Audible gasps came from a number of audience members the night I saw it. But persevere. This is a carefully lit, tightly directed piece of work with plenty of new, disturbing things to ponder.
The Whipping Man
The St. Louis Black Repertory
314-534-3810
through April 13, 2013