In the gallery of African-American freedom fighters, the face of Frederick Douglass is possibly the most readily identifiable, his photogenic visage immediately recognized by even the most rudimentary of scholars.
This star status is not unfounded: Born in 1817, the Maryland slave served under three masters before escaping to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where his shipbuilding skills enabled him to find work as a common laborer. His gift for stirring oratory soon led to his hire by the Massachusetts Antislavery Association, one of many abolitionist organizations proliferating in the northern states, where he later mentored under newspaper publisher William Lloyd Garrison. Fearing recapture by slave hunters, Douglass emigrated to England, where supporters negotiated with his former owner to purchase his freedom. Upon returning, Douglass settled in Rochester, New York, to publish his own paper, significantly titled The North Star.
This isn't exactly the story that author Thomas Klingenstein is content to narrate, though. In this world premiere docudrama, Douglass' Yankee supporters, while devoted to the cause of bringing an end to slavery, cannot help but invoke the prejudices of white privilege, however inadvertently.
Thus, we see Garrison, reluctant to lose his popular columnist, repeatedly caution Douglass against haste in pursuing his own business. British activist Julia Griffiths, visiting the United States, slips the married Douglass the key to her room at the local innassurance that the conspirators will have a place to confer in private, or invitation to an assignation with the handsome blackamoor? Further contributing to Klingenstein's central argument are Martin Robison Delany, an advocate of repatriation for Africans cruelly kidnapped from their native homelands, along with a shipyard owner called only "Mr. Davis."
Klingenstein is far from the first playwright to espouse a social agenda, but what distinguishes him from his confreres is his rejection of shock tactics in preference to a subtle revisionism amplifying a point of view often neglected today. His re-interpretation of popular myth, however, is designed to promote intellectual detachment over emotional fervor.
The text for this "multimedia" production, directed by Christopher McElroenfounder of the Classical Theater of Harlem company and familiar to Chicago theatergoers recalling Court Theatre's Jeff-winning Invisible Man in 1012precedes each scene with a summary of its action, in addition to excerpts from speeches by the key figures. As of a week before opening, McElroen could only guarantee that the latter would be seen by first-nighters, but fully acknowledges the role that Brecht's "Alienation Effect" plays in the conceptualization of this American Vicarious production.
"Our goal is to acknowledge that the events about to unfold are events in a play, and that play is happening today," said McElroen. "We are in a theater, and will use this medium to look back at our shared history in order to have a conversation about events that remain present in our society today."
Why does Klingenstein feel it necessary, at this particular point in our history, that we confront the imperfections of our past? Actor Mark Ulrich, who plays Garrison, offered an answer: "The abolitionists deserve our admiration and gratitude. Many dedicated their lives to their ideals against vehement opposition, and in doing so, putting themselves, their families and their careers at great risk.
"Nevertheless, for as long as the movement was controlled by white citizens, it could not avoid being tainted by bigotry, self-assessment leading the most devoted crusaders to think their positions unassailable. Klingenstein has chosen to shine a light on some of these individuals with an eye to examining our perspectives on racism today."
Asked what audience response the company anticipates, Ulrich did not hesitate. He said, "I imagine the audience will be moved by Douglass' monumental strength of character. Here was a man born into slavery, denied a formal education or even the right to literacyyet he embarked on a life of voracious intellectual curiosity, self-education, human refinement and intrepid leadership that make him one of the most important figures in our nation's history. Looking back at Frederick Douglass, we hope, will help us to look forward."
The American Vicarious production of Douglass is at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets are $25; call 773-975-8150 or visit TheaterWit.org .