“Abe Lincoln in Illinois” is a 1938 play that is essentially a pre-presidency biography of Abraham Lincoln. It is, amazingly, enlightening to contemporary audiences.
When the play first appeared in 1938, with Raymond Massey offering a career defining performance, it used over 80 actors. The 1993 revival with Sam Waterson (of “Law and Order” fame) reduced the cast to about 50. The Berkshire Theatre Group effort, which runs through July 15, has only 11 actors. All are terrific, especially the three who play Lincoln.
Yes, you heard right. In this three act play, Lincoln is played by a different actor in each act. Adding to what appears an overly “woke” sensibility, two are actors of color and the other is a female.
I walked into the Unicorn Theatre on the BTG campus in Stockbridge, MA a skeptic and left an admirer of the vision of director David Auburn. At no time does the production ever impose a revisionist look at Lincoln.
However, you have to be moved when during a Lincoln-Douglas debate you hear a powerful black actor, Robert G. McKay, use Lincoln’s own words to suggest that even though the Negro was not equal to a white man, he still deserved to be treated as a human being and offered the rights given to all in the constitution. The moment brings clarity, power and shame to both that era and today.
The second act, which deals with Lincoln entering the world of politics, centers on his reluctant relationship with Mary Todd. In this segment Lincoln is played by Kelli Simpkins. Having a female playing a Lincoln who is in turmoil over marrying Mary Todd adds an enigmatic view of both the power and sexual dynamics of the situation.
It is also enlightening to have a woman play Stephen Douglas and deliver his philosophy of white, male domination.
The opening act has Brandon Dial play Lincoln as an awkward but assured and charming young man who is beginning to form a personality that will define him through life. This section also touches on his love for Ann Rutledge.
Essentially the three acts show Lincoln’s evolution into the strong, principled president we admire. The point is that growth can grow from doubt if you have an open mind.
It is also a play that reflects the period of the time it is offered. There can be no denying that by visiting the ground zero of Black Lives Matter with a mixed-race cast playing historic figures, as well as gender bending characters, forces the audience to realize how far we have come as a society and how much further we have to go. But never is it heavy-handed.
Oddly, if you can put the issues of slavery on the back-burner, the true parallel to today’s world is the potential destruction of the U. S. Constitution.
In 1860 it was the looming Civil War, based on the right of states to secede from the Union. Robert Sherwood wrote the play in 1938; at the time he was concerned about the isolationist mood of the country. That was followed by the United States entering World War II to stop fascist regimes from conquering Europe.
When revived in 1993, Waterson claimed that if every time you heard the word slavery in the play, if you substituted “dictatorship” the play would speak to that specific time. That sentiment is true today.
In this election year, with the future of the constitution at stake, “Abe Lincoln In Illinois” helps you realize the country is at a crossroads with a nation divided on the future direction of the country. This alone makes “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” a must see production. Information at berkshiretheatregroup.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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