by Richard Lord
One problem that always arises when we elevate someone to the status of icon is that we can lose sight of the fact that icons are actually human beings, with all the hopes, fear, joys, predictabilities and eye-opening surprises of ordinary human beings.
Thurgood Marshall certainly qualifies as an American icon. Hearing his name, many people will think of the feisty civil rights lawyer who argued the case that consigned the separate-but-equal policies to their eventual demise. If we try to picture this icon, the images most likely to come to mind are the spirited lawyer with loosened tie and shirt sleeves rolled up or the avuncular figure in long black robes and sober demeanor.
Thurgood, the one-man play which just opened at People’s Light is intended to flesh out the figure of Thurgood Marshall, to introduce us to the flesh-and-blood Marshall. And it does a marvelous job at that task, showing us a fascinating personality who earns our unflinching admiration even today.
The author of Thurgood is George Stevens, Jr. Even before setting out to writing this theatre piece, Stevens was deeply involved in the Thurgood Marshall saga, having written, produced and directed Separate But Equal, a made-for-TV film back in 1991. That movie focused mainly on Marshall’s work on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.
Stevens wished to tell more of the Thurgood Marshall story, much more, and thus this play, first produced in 2006. Thurgood is staged as a talk given by Justice Thurgood Marshall at Howard University, one of his two alma maters. In this piece, Marshall starts off revealing interesting snippets of his family background, then segues into his childhood in Baltimore and his time as a teen making “good trouble” in high school. He talks about the sacrifices made by his family to fund his college education and Law school studies, and all those who helped him on his journey to become the man he became.
There is, unsurprisingly, a long section of the play devoted to that Brown v. Board of Education decision that made Marshall famous. The Marshall character here recounts the background to the case, and playwright Stevens spins it so that the drama of the arguments and the decision are brought out sharply.
We then hear how Marshall steadily moved up the ladder of presidential appointments to the federal bench and the solicitor general’s post, culminating in Thurgood’s nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court as the first justice of color in that august body’s history.
Stevens lets Marshall tell the story, often in language that reflects the man in a compelling way. Stevens was careful to see that the Marshall narrative never dips into torpor, but proceeds engagingly from start to finish. The play is not just an account of legal battles and triumphs; there are touching moments of tenderness and poignancy from his personal life, as well a number of astute laugh lines sprinkled throughout the text.
If there’s one criticism we could make of Stevens’ script, it’s that the Marshall we meet here is largely a heroic, almost saintly figure. We don’t hear about any of his noteworthy weaknesses. Sure, there are quick winks at his fondness for alcohol, but his philandering younger days are skipped over with the innocuous observation that he had an eye for attractive women. Further, in his later years, Marshall could get quite cantankerous, as the bitterness at a lifetime of abuse by too many surfaced and often resulted in innocents becoming the recipients of curt rebuffs and barbed comments.
Of course, Thurgood Marshall himself would obviously not want to reveal such flaws in a speech to students and faculty at his alma mater. Nevertheless, the play could have been even more engaging if Stevens had found a way to let us see that Marshall had a few very human flaws along with his many virtues.
The People’s Light production of Stevens’ play is simply exemplary. Actor Brian Marable and director Steve H. Broadnax III have collaborated in putting together a captivating recreation of the esteemed lawyer and jurist. Under the fine-tuned direction of Broadnax, Brian Marable brings out the richness of Stevens’ text. Despite the strengths of the script, a lesser actor could plow through the most touching moments, while many of the humorous bits can easily fall flat if not given the proper treatment by the actor. Fortunately, Marable brings out the best in all these elements. (In the performance I attended, there was loud laugher at the humorous bits, no matter how subtle those bits were.)
The show opens with an elderly Marshall shuffling out with the aid of a cane, placing a stuffed briefcase on a chair and launching into his long narrative. This elderly version of Thurgood Marshall is actually a framing device. Shortly thereafter, the actor sets the cane down, straightens up to full height and morphs into a much younger version of Marshall. Close to an hour and a half later, this Marshall again picks up the cane and moves cautiously to a restful position. In the play’s last moments, Brian Marable becomes the senior justice as he delivers an assured justification for some of the principles he argued for in case after case on the Supreme Court. He then takes up the cane again, and lumbers out.
Between those book-end views of an aged Thurgood Marshall, Brian Marable moves deftly through a number of periods in the life of this legal giant. Marable is splendid as he shows us Marshall as a young man who (in his own testimony) wore “life like a loose garment”. He’s equally effective as that legal lion in winter we meet at the end of the play.
Marable also spins a winning rendition of John W. Davis, the 1924 Democratic Party presidential nominee who argued the segregationist side in the big 1954 separate-but-equal battle with Marshall.
Pay close attention to Marable’s face as he delivers his lines, as there’s often a subtext to be seen there. As he’s giving what sounds like a straight-forward account of his Law school experiences or his battles with the racist establishment, there’s a whisper of a chuckle. More importantly, while Marable gives an account of some setback or a personal loss in stoic composure, a flash of pain crosses the actor’s features.
Finally, this is a production that insists on extra recognition for its set. Designer Tony Cisek’s beautifully minimalist set follows a Scandinavian Modern scheme with a series of attractive red and brown slats bracketing the sides and ceiling of the performance space. On the stage itself is a long table with four chairs. A pitcher of water and a glass rest on the table. At the center of the table, rear, is a lectern, from which Marshall will periodically speak.
The water remains untouched throughout the play. Only one chair gets used, and that only as the play towards its conclusion. The long table is not employed in any action, or any specific reference. Yet, Tony Cisek’s plan is absolutely spot on. The water pitcher and glass remind us that this is supposed to be a lecture, the ample table gives the audience a better focus on where the action is. (Throughout the show, Brian Marable stands in front of it, behind it, or slightly to the side.) A solitary lectern on this spacious stage would have seemed lost. Cisek’s decision to add a table adds a visual hold on our attention, a choice that makes this production that much more effective. Nic Vincent’s lighting design only enhances the needed visual element of this altogether engaging production.
Thurgood runs Weds.–Sun. at the People’s Light Leonard C. Haas Stage, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern through March 19. All evening performances start at 7:30, with an additional 2:00 performance Saturdays. Sunday performances are only at 2:00. There are no performances on Saturday, March 18.
The Trivia Trail
George Stevens, Jr. is the son of George, Sr., who reigned as one of Hollywood’s most successful directors during the 50s and early 60s. After a Hollywood-style apprenticeship writing gaps for cookie-cutter slapstick comedies and serving as a director of photography, Stevens went on to direct such classic films as A Place in the Sun (1951); the classic Western Shane (1953); the epic Giant (1956); the biographical Holocaust drama The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and his Biblical epic of the life of Jesus, The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He won Best Director Oscars for Giant and A Place in the Sun.
The original production of Thurgood was at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. This 2006 production starred James Earl Jones. It opened on Broadway two years later, with Laurence Fishburne handling the assignment of recreating Justice Marshall.
Stevens’ 1991 made-for TV film, Separate but Equal, starred Sidney Poitier as Marshall. The movie focused on the battles Marshall and his dedicated team of NAACP personnel undertook to win the Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court. It was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Television Motion Picture and won the 1991 Emmy for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special and Miniseries.
The play does not put emphasis on the confirmation battle that ensued when JFK appointed Marshall to the Second Circuit of the federal Court of Appeals. Keep in mind that this was a time before the hyper-partisan divide in our politics, when most confirmation to the circuit courts were rather routine affairs. However, in Marshall’s case, Southern senators (most of them Democrats in those days) held up his nomination for almost a year. Despite pressure to withdraw the nomination, the Kennedy team waited for the opposition to give in.
Those Southern senators who fought the nomination claimed they doubted Marshall’s ability to competently serve as a federal judge. But it was clear to all impartial witnesses that the true reason for their opposition was Marshall’s long years as a legal crusader for civil rights.