{"id":5563,"date":"2013-04-05T12:26:22","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T19:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=5563"},"modified":"2013-04-05T12:27:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-05T19:27:00","slug":"marin-theatre-has-another-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/marin-theatre-has-another-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Marin Theatre has another winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
\nTHE WHIPPING MAN<\/strong>
\nby Matthew Lopez
\nDirected by Jasson Minadakis
\nStarring L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham<\/p>\n

The people made worse off by slavery
\nWere those who were enslaved.
\nThomas Sowell<\/p>\n

Marin Theatre consistently gives us exceptional productions and Jasson Minadakis is without equal as a director.\u00a0 Any production he touches becomes thought provoking, meaningful theater at its best. THE WHIPPING MAN <\/strong>is no exception.\u00a0 \u201cSet a week after the fall of Richmond at the end of the Civil War and spanning the date of President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s assassination, THE WHIPPING MAN <\/strong>explores a moment in our history when everything changed and anything seemed, and perhaps actually was, possible,\u201d says Minadakis.\u00a0 \u201cMatthew explores how faith is one of the strongest ways to build family and community and to honor history\u2026..\u2026.Faith in ourselves, our family and friends, our community or a divine power is the light that parts the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The faith in this play is Judaism.\u00a0 When the Southern Aristocracy owned slaves, those people became a part of their family.\u00a0 Although they were possessions, they were still expected to follow the moral constructs of the people who owned them.\u00a0 \u00a0Simon (L. Peter Callender) and John (Tobie Windham) are Jewish. They belonged to Caleb\u2019s (Nicholas Pelczar) family.\u00a0 The play opens in Caleb\u2019s now almost destroyed home in Richmond, Virginia in 1865 on a Friday night during the Jewish Passover.\u00a0 It is important to understand the Jewish humanistic philosophy when you watch this play because it colors each characters reaction to one another.\u00a0 Jewish law forbids unethical treatment of slaves and encourages owners to make them part of the family.\u00a0 They were forbidden to physically abuse their slaves or to sell them to harsh masters.<\/p>\n

And yet, these people were property and no matter how well meaning the master was, there were moments when he fell from grace.\u00a0 In this play Caleb\u2019s father who was portrayed as a kind, humane man beat both Simon and John, and violated Simon\u2019s wife.\u00a0 Caleb was overbearing and cruel to John even though the two grew up together as brothers.\u00a0 As Simon explains, \u201dYou did it because you could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb disillusioned by the cruelty and bloodshed of the war has abandoned his faith. \u201cI stopped believing.\u00a0 It\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he tells Simon.\u00a0 And Simon who still believes there is a higher power to protect them all says, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t like fair weather friends.\u00a0 \u201c\u00a0 He continues, \u201dYou don\u2019t lose your faith by stopping believing; you lose your faith by not asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the play develops, we are asked to question where justice begins and why men abandon their sense of humanity when they have power over another.\u00a0 The acting in this play is nothing short of amazing.\u00a0 L Peter Callender is a supreme artist and anyone who has the privilege of seeing him perform on stage knows he is unforgettable in any part he plays.\u00a0 He outdoes himself in this play.\u00a0 He carries the action and he is breathtaking every moment he is on that stage.\u00a0 Tobie Windham is perfect as the rebellious angry brother and Caleb is right on the mark as the disillusioned son of a Jewish plantation owner who finally sees how little help his faith was to him when faced with impossible choices not just on the battlefield but in a home where people were subjugated to humiliation because they were owned.<\/p>\n

The production is a masterpiece on every level and we have Jasson Minadakis to thank for that. He is both the director of this fine and memorable piece of theater and artistic director of the theater.\u00a0 One can wax eloquent about the set, the lighting and the action\u2026but there are no words to substitute seeing the play for yourself.\u00a0 It is far more that a work of fiction on a stage.\u00a0 It is a reflection of what life means and how we can all try to live it with honor and dignity.<\/p>\n

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery,
\nI feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.<\/p>\n

ABRAHAM LINCOLN<\/p>\n

THE WHIPPING MAN<\/strong> continues until April 21, 2013
\nMarin Theatre Company
\n397 Miller Avenue
\nMill Valley, CA 94941
\n415 388 5208
\nwww.marintheatre.org<\/p>\n

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MARIN THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE WHIPPING MAN by Matthew Lopez Directed by Jasson Minadakis Starring L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham The people made worse off by slavery…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"