Assassins
Chichester Festival Theatre
Opened June 9th 2023
Thirteen people have attempted to assassinate the president or president elect of the United States, four have succeeded. What would happen if you placed all these people in a room, would they have anything in common? Did they have a common motive? This is the concept of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical ‘Assassins’ which has opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Whilst the subject of gun culture in the United States continues to be hotly debated, this musical couldn’t be more aptly timed.
I am a huge fan of the late Sondheim’s work, admiring how he challenges you to look at stories or events from different perspectives. This musical delightfully epitomises this.
We first meet John Wilkes Booth (Danny Mac), a staunch confederate, who successfully assassinates Abraham Lincoln in 1865 due to political differences. The musical proceeds to dip and dive into the other Assassin’s stories, whether they be political or personal. And what of the most famous assassin of all, Lee Harvey Oswald? What was his story? His motivation? Wiedman and Sondheim create a scenario of what might have been going through his head that fateful day in 1963.
Assassins spans 150 years of American History, Sondheim’s music reflects this, there are folk songs, rousing anthems, ballards etc, and as with all his works, the lyrics aren’t an addition to the story they tell the story.
The last time I saw Assassins was in the intimate space of the Menier Chocolate Factory (review here), this staging designed by Lizzie Clachan is very different. The set is covered patriotically with American flags with the centrepiece being the oval office. ‘The Proprietor’ (Peter Forbes) is a brash politician, not unlike Trump who introduces us to the Assassins. The three balladeers (Liam Tamne, Lizzy Connolly, Samuel Thomas) who help drive the narrative are ingeniously cast as roving reporters from CNN and FXX reporting channels, skilfully providing commentary on the proceedings.
Each of the ‘Assassins’ are expertly portrayed and interact well, cajoling and inspiring as they reveal their stories. As well as Danny Mac’s sublime John Wilkes Booth, the stories of the other characters unfold. There is Leon Czolgosz (Sam Oladeinde) who assassinated William McKinley at point blank range in 1901, John Hinkley (Jack Shalloo) who shot at Ronald Reagan hoping to gain the love of a movie star, and others Charles Guiteau (Harry Hepple), Guiseppe Zangara (Luke Brady), Samuel Byck (Nick Holder) and the two females who tried to Assassinate Gerald Ford within 17 days of one another Lynette Fromme and Sara Jane Moore (Carly Mercedes Dyer & Amy Booth Steel).
A history lesson in the most bizarre form. Assassins is definitely one to catch this summer,
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Sammi O’Neill
Photo: Johan Persson