The first thing you need to know about “Race,” the new play by David Mamet currently running at the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway, is that it isn’t really about race. Well, not entirely about race.
The setting is a conference room of a law firm. Henry Brown (David Alan Grier) and his white partner Jack Lawson (James Spader) are interviewing a prospective client (Richard Thomas). The client, a wealthy white man, is standing trial for the rape of a black woman.
Two expert attorneys interviewing a prospective client is the perfect device for Mamet to not only inform the audience of the facts at hand and the idiosyncratic personalities of the characters we will spend the next hour and a half of our lives with, but it also serves as a perfect showcase for the playwright’s legendary use of dialogue, timing, over-lapping speech patterns and no-holds-barred language. For a Mamet addict, this is heroin.
It is a chance to watch a conversation that anyone outside that room was never meant to hear. And the language the characters use reflect the comfortable and brazen style reminiscent of Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow, the unique vernacular often referred to as “Mamet-Speak.”
Also present but silent in the play’s opening scene is Susan (Kerry Washington), an associate at the firm. She stays on a platform that stretches the length of the stage, upstage of the action. She is always seen, observing but remaining silent. We notice her, but we don’t focus on her. Her mere presence (as well as the fact that she is a beautiful black woman and the plot centers on the rape of a young black woman) is a clear indication that she will play a pivotal role in the scenes that follow, and she does.
Yes, “Race” is about a rape trial. And yes, race plays a factor in the case. And yes, the race of the characters on stage serves as texture, tension and explosive material for the plot’s development. But, the real over-riding subject of this play is Political Correctness and the destruction of our society because of it.
Guilt or innocence is rarely discussed by the attorneys in the context of the facts of the case or the strategy in defending their client. They cynically attempt to navigate the politically volatile waters they find themselves in. A major piece of evidence in the case is a twenty-year-old postcard written by the accused man which contains inflammatory language about black women. This is held up as more critical to proving his guilt as a rapist than any physical evidence at the scene of the crime. It is taken as a given that a rich white man who appears to hold a prejudice against black women will be assumed to be guilty of this heinous crime. Thus, political correctness replaces jurisprudence and the constitutional presumption of innocence.
Welcome to the Politically Correct world we inhabit.
And this is the world Mamet wants to expose. Ever since his landmark play “Oleanna” which was written in the wake of the Clarence Thomas hearings, the playwright has been at his best when he shows us the roaches that live behind America’s proverbial refrigerator but only scatter when he shines his flashlight on them.
Mr. Spader and Mr. Grier are a stunning tandem. Not since Ron Silver and Joe Mantegna delivered Mamet’s dialogue in mesmerizing cadences in the original Speed-the-Plow have two actors so expertly conveyed his style and message. Hearing Mr. Spader’s terrific stage voice articulating the unmistakable Mamet style in an intimate, live setting is truly a treat, and I drank up every word. And in a break-out performance, Mr. Grier proves that he is a force to be reckoned with on the Broadway stage. He has already shown audiences his comedic and musical abilities, but now he commands attention as a dramatic leading man. Unfortunately for the audience we have to wait too long for the two of them to be alone on stage for a lengthy and pivotal scene. We want more of the two of them and, unfortunately, less of Ms. Washington.
Ms. Washington is most often paired with Mr. Spader for the bulk of her scenes and the match-up just isn’t fair. Mr. Spader possesses a mesmerizing and powerful voice that fills the Barrymore (seemingly unassisted by electronic amplification). Ms. Washington does not possess such a voice. And when her character must express intensity or anger she resorts to a painfully strained vocal style which distracts from the actual text and just sounds shrill.
The crime is that the Ms. Washington’s performance has led some critics to lazily assume that her character is weak, thus buying into the latest trend of accusing Mr. Mamet of hating women (gee, I don’t know why he seems to want to rail against political correctness so much). But, the fact is Ms. Washington’s character is actually one of the strongest female roles written for a young, black actress in a very long time.
Mr. Thomas serves his character and the play admirably in a role that is essential to the plot, but not really important to the message. Thus his efforts are respected, but not what you leave the theatre humming.
Mr. Mamet also deserves praise for his no-nonsense directing style. He allows the audience to see the action without distraction we too often get from directors trying to remind you that they are there. The staging is straight-forward and simple and does what it is supposed to do; serve the text and the actors, nothing more.
The set is handsomely executed with what I believe to be either a planned bit of symbolism, or a remarkable accident. Stretching across the entire stage, upstage of the action is an enormous set of bookcases filled to the brim with law books of all sorts. They loom over the play at all times. Every scene has them as its backdrop. You can’t escape looking at them. And yet, in this play presented as a legal drama, set in a law office, with lawyers debating about the guilt or innocence of their client, not one of the law books is ever touched.
In Mamet’s view of American law, the actual law is not merely as important as the new, unforgiving rules of political correctness. Go, David, Go!
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