The Whipping Man holds power but lacks complication
I have been looking forward to The Whipping Man since Alliance Theatre held their annual season preview. As a carpet bagger, I am utterly fascinated by all things Southern history. I dove into Gone with the Wind, I toured the museums and small historical Southern towns. I couldn’t wait to see a play that grasped all of the complicated issues that were going on during the end of the Confederacy, but also to see it in a new light. A Jewish one. But as Matthew Lopez’s play unfolded on Hertz Stage, it was clear that the only thing new about this story set in the South was religious views.
The cast consisted of Jeremy Aggers as Caleb, the Confederate soldier coming home to his now dilapidated family home in Richmond, Virginia. The only people left were his slaves, now freemen, Keith Randolph Smith as Simon, the old wise man filled with answers, advice and righteousness, and John Stewart as John, the wayward thief with more than just a master/slave connection to Caleb. I remembered Jeremy Aggers from his role in Stephen King’s and John Mellencamp’s Ghost Brothers of Darkland County and couldn’t wait to see him in a vastly different play. And he was not a disappointment in this historically grounded show. All actors played their parts with conviction and passion, that was not the downfall. The problem I had was the story lines that have been repeated through texts like this one over and over, and the mistake of essentially playing it too safe with the racial lines and relationships.
Caleb was an uncomplicated white man who loved his slaves and treated them right. Sure, I can buy that there were nice slave owners, but they were still slave owners. Certain details were pulled in to aid the situation, such as Caleb whipping his so-called friend and slave, John, and that he still had a moment or two where he treated them as if they needed to tend to his needs. But these moments were few and far between, and the moment of whipping was only mentioned. The emotional complexity of what all of this means fell flat and seemed as if the writer wanted to make sure not to offend either race.
I don’t know whether this is a guilt thing, or fear, but this is a common problem and unnecessary. Whether you play it close to to the vest or take the text to uncomfortable, yet accurate realms, someone is not going to like it. It is the age old problem of not pleasing everybody. And with matters of race we are incredibly cautious. This play was powerful, yes, but it could have taken it too a whole other level by not being so careful and so predictable. Whenever there is an issue of someone being in charge of others, lines will blur and relationships will vary to all kinds of extremes but there is still a hierarchy. The Whipping Man was set in a very pivotal and interestingly complex time, right at a moment where our country changed, but it lacked reaching its full potential making a complete impact.
The Whipping Man is playing on Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center till April 7. For show times and tickets, visit alliancetheatre.org.
