Pierre Walters and Jessica Rota. Photo by Spotlighters Theatre / machpe Photography.
Maryland’s last historically recognized lynching happened on October 18, 1933. Playwright Jack L.B. Gohn used the date (but none of the other details) of George Armwood’s brutal torture and execution by a White mob as the foundation for his play “What Was Done,”appearing on the Spotlighters stage this month. In Gohn’s absorbing piece, the slaying of the fictional Jefferson Monroe is examined by characters in 1978. The 45-year time gap between the lynching and the setting of the play, interestingly, is precisely equal to the gap between 1978 and today. Gohn literally takes us halfway back to the crime, and his characters cover the remaining distance in their journeys of discovery, shock, and shame.
All in all, and especially if viewed as an early workshop production, “What Was Done” is a truly fine piece of emotional theater. The good, bad, and ambiguities for which it reaches are still among us. The conversations are still necessary.
In the story of the play, Monroe was a Black farmer in rural Charles County. Social historian Deirdre Hawkins (played by Jessica Rota) is investigating Monroe’s lynching by examining land records with the help of surveyor Mike Pumphrey (Richard Peck). In Gohn’s first scene, Pumphrey and Hawkins begin to peel the onion of a murder mystery. While Pumphrey does legwork at the records office, Hawkins pays a visit to her favorite uncle, Selby Kelton (John Covaleskie). Kelton, like Pumphrey, is a transplant to Maryland from Boston, having married a local woman whom he met while assigned to the nearby Patuxent Naval Air Station. The two share hugs. He calls his niece “Doodles.” He also reveals an ugly bigotry while arguing with Hawkins about her work. “Even if I agreed with you that lynchings were always wrong…” he begins, adopting the “ancient history” stance. Hawkins has a biracial son, Kibuka, whom Uncle Selby dismissively calls “Kevin.” Kibuka’s father, Alex, isn’t married to Deirdre. Selby has things to say about him, too.
Pumphrey discovers that taxes on the land where Monroe died are being paid by Dracey Weeks (Gareth Kelly), who owns a neighboring estate that traces itself all the way back to colonial times. This news drops like a bombshell. Selby’s wife, Hunter (Hillary Mazer), as it happens, is Weeks’ sister. As Pumphrey finds proof that Monroe had actually owned the land on which he was killed, Hawkins has some tough questions for the Weeks clan. Lies are exploded, and horrible secrets revealed. Deirdre must also come to terms with Alex who has a surprise of his own to share. Everything blows up, with Hawkins at the center, and Kelton claiming a nonexistent middle ground. That’s the first act.
Gohn ratchets up the tension still further after intermission as Weeks tells Kelton a horrifying story in which “an ancient wrong was made right.” Kelton learns who his wife and brother-in-law really are, and quite a bit about himself, as the two ask him to join them in a toast to White supremacy. Kelton then takes his legacy of South Boston racism, sifted through Southern Maryland racism, back to his niece’s house in DC for a series of confrontations. Alex reveals his secret to Kelton. Kelton and Kibuka tussle. Deirdre, oddly, tries to play peacemaker. Kelton asserts that the issues in conflict aren’t strictly black and white. It’s then that the emotional peak of the Gohn’s play happens. Alex ignites. The issues are, indeed, Black and White. Kelton retreats and rethinks. The piece closes with a strange yet predictable approach to a kind of family reconciliation. At the end, Uncle Selby holds the stage alone, gazing into a light from above. It’s a slightly cringey moment of White-centeredness that reminds one of Aaron Sorkin’s “all rise” ending to “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Gohn’s script has a lot of great things going for it. Structurally, his economy is marvelous. He works a very complex story of seven characters whom we see, plus half a dozen more whom we don’t, into just seven scenes. This frames his plot very effectively. For a world premiere production, “What Was Done” possesses a lot of power. Unsurprisingly, it’s in a stage of development where it could use some polish. The play is very long—and that’s after the usual Spotlighters’ six-minute curtain speech. There’s a whole lot of information to convey, certainly, and telling the story absolutely requires plenty of time to breathe. Without squeezing the production’s perfect pacing, one can’t help but wonder how much more power would be generated if the dialogue were condensed in several places. Gohn will doubtless find his pruning shears, and employ them well.
During the last several years, the Baltimore Playwrights Festival has ambitiously taken some of its submitted plays from script reading to fully-staged production in a fast-track arrangement covering just a few months. The Festival’s producing involvement in the final stage varies, from the laissez-faire of Bruce Bonafede’s “Crusade” by Rapid Lemon Productions in 2019, to the more hands-on approach taken with “What Was Done.” Miriam Bazensky, BPF’s vice chair, serves as producer here. Her deep connection to Spotlighters makes it a natural collaboration, Barry Feinstein, who directed this play’s reading in late April, remains in that role for its production. He also returns a few of the reading’s cast members. The roles of Deirdre and Alex are reprised by Jessica Rota and Pierre Walters, for example. Rota carries a heavy burden, portraying the play’s intended protagonist, and does fine work in the role. Everything from her carriage to her vocal delivery is steeped in an anxious tension that borders on twitchiness. It’s amazing to witness and must be grueling to carry off. She does this while also delivering the most selfless performance we’ve seen in ages. It might not sound like a compliment, but Rota plays Deirdre—a character who probably ought to be the play’s driving force—as if it were a masterfully created supporting character. Walters, on the other hand, is the complete embodiment of “less is more.” His movements are sparse and deliberate. He keeps his physicality quiet and uses his face to show that Alex has more going on than he’s letting on. Walters’ stillness generates scene-stealing power which he uses very judiciously. In the moments that call for Alex to erupt, Walters creates goosebumps. We hope to see a lot more of this DC-based actor in Baltimore in the future. Deirdre’s and Alex’s 14-year-old son, Kibuka, is played with both humor and intensity by Ja’Kai Viera. Kibuka’s presence in the play serves to illustrate a constant theme of patrilinear succession, and Viera shares some fantastic son/father moments with Walters. He also provides some sorely needed moments of lightheartedness, if not out-and-out comic relief. The secret handshake he shares with his mother is a cute, lovely touch.
John Covaleskie plays Uncle Selby who, like Deirdre, is somewhat based on a real person from the playwright’s life. Covaleskie makes Selby clear-eyed and earnest, as the man’s moral certainty is gradually eroded. Gohn has written a troubled character here and, at times, Selby vacillates between “one might sympathize” and “no, he’s irredeemably evil” and back again. Given the material, Covaleskie’s job is probably the most difficult of the ensemble. He does very well. As Selby’s wife, Hillary Mazer produces a rich creepiness that could easily be borrowing from Angela Lansbury’s work in “The Manchurian Candidate.” There isn’t a whole lot for this character to do in the play and Mazer makes the most of it. The same might be said for Richard Peck’s turn as the surveyor who’s helping Deirdre with her investigation. Peck plays him as the reliable local good guy, smilingly doing grunt work for justice. Dracey Weeks, the evilest bigot we’ve seen on a Baltimore stage since “God’s Country,” is played with unflinching grace by Gareth Kelly. Gohn clearly worked hard to write this character as more than a cardboard cutout, and Kelly delivers work in the role that comes across as horrifyingly believable.
Jen Sizer’s lighting design and Rob Brooks’ scenery are well suited to Spotlighters’ tiny square stage. Costumes by April Forrer do a pretty good job of helping to establish the late ‘70s period within a very limited budget—some of the pants are flared, but most of the shoes are more contemporary. Aidan Deighan’s sound is unobtrusive and natural. Herb Otter’s stage management is tight and seamless. The show program doesn’t credit props design, but kudos to the production for locating an old Kodak Instamatic camera. More importantly, it’s worth mentioning that the play contains ample physical intimacy—no credit is given for the work of choreographing those elements in service of actor safety, and that’s an oversight we’d hoped to have eliminated by 2023.
All in all, and especially if viewed as an early workshop production, “What Was Done” is a truly fine piece of emotional theater. The good, bad, and ambiguities for which it reaches are still among us. The conversations are still necessary.
Running time: Two hours and 24 minutes with one intermission.
Advisories: Contains adult language and references; discussion of systemic racism; includes the use of epithets such as the “n” word.
“What Was Done” runs through July 23, 2023 at Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul, in Baltimore. Tickets are available online. Face masks are optional.
