Micah Bernas, Adrienne Evans, Alexander Richardson, and Jo Vasquez in An All-American Riot
An All-American Riot, by prolific local playwright (and fellow Reader reviewer) Alexander Richardson, had its world-premiere performance on Thursday at the Black Box Theatre, with accomplished actor (and Richardson's wife) Sydney Richardson making her directing debut. This is the first live production by Barely There Theatre, which has offered audio plays via Web and podcast since July of 2021. The playwright's other shows have been staged at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre and the Mockingbird on Main, while his most recently produced script prior to this, co-written with Ben Gougeon, was The Stacks: An Immersive Mystery, which went up in February at Moline's Sound Conservatory.
Richardson's latest has its revelatory and satisfying moments, as well as some bumps in its road. It's based on a real riot at a Manhattan theatre in the 1840s. At that time, Shakespeare's plays were popular with, and familiar to, people from all strata of society, who routinely gathered at theatres – and heckling the actors, as well as class skirmishes among audience members, were sometimes part of the expected entertainment. Though some reviled Brits in general, most revered Shakespeare, as his works simply were theatre. (America hadn't developed its own stage culture yet; the lullaby of Broadway was a decade or two away.) In this young, scrappy, and hungry country, pretty much all the residents of New York City were immigrants, or second- or third-generation citizens. Those who didn't have English ancestry (or another "refined" culture; for example, French) could have a hard time finding work and an affordable place to live. Also, they were sometimes turned away from theatres.
Theatre was as popular in the 1840s as television was in the 1950s, and Edwin Forrest was this country's first homegrown, widely known star – the Milton Berle of the stage, if you will, without the jokes. During one of Forrest's performances in London, he (weirdly) attributed the audience's disapproval to an imagined scheme orchestrated by English actor William Macready. The feud escalated over the next four years, with anti-English sentiment seeping into existing class struggles. The eventual result was a deadly riot involving thousands outside the exclusive Astor Place Opera House, where Macready was performing. Militia responded. People were injured and killed.
The first scene of All-American Riot grew out of the playwright's curtain speech, which worked well, as Richardson is also one of the show's four talented actors, each of whom plays several parts. His principal role is notable jerk Captain Isaiah Rynders. Micah Bernas plays Forrest, exhibiting a conceited Southern stride and a fine drawl, as well as a newly arrived immigrant, Pádraic, with an equally credible Irish brogue. Adrienne Evans portrays Forrest's rival actor Macready as wa-a-a-y over the top – fitting, as the Britons are the villains in this one; all she needed was a mustache to twirl – and her turn as an elderly woman was both comedic and convincing. Jo Vasquez played the likable immigrant Annie, as well as the spectacularly inept mayor, whose unconvincing reassurances to the public after the riot made me squirm a little, as I recalled similar remarks after last year's horrifying apartment collapse in Davenport. My big squirms were over the similarities between the 1849 riot and the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, during which people also died.
At one point, we, the audience, are given props and permission to become disruptive spectators during a Macready performance, which was fun – and fitting, as we were actually in a theatre watching a show. With gags and asides to the audience, the production has a vaudevillian vibe, often fast-paced and engaging, which unfortunately makes the slower scenes drag by contrast. (Those could benefit from trimming, or stepping up the pacing.) Director Richardson's mostly lighthearted show is capped with an abruptly grim, disturbing Shakespeare mash-up with lines from Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Hamlet, the overall effect of which is a bit scattershot. I appreciate, however, how difficult it is to throw on bits of wardrobe and perform such a variety of characters, and that aspect is professionally seamless. One lovely scene shows all four actors as members of the put-upon lower class, clustered together bantering and commiserating, and features Bernas' Pádraic singing a sweet, wistful song.
Playwright Richardson, as technical designer, is likely responsible for the projections, which include dates, map animations, and other helpful explanatory elements. My favorite technical aspect was the antique-looking footlights, electrical but flickering as though with flame, which, when lit, indicated that we were seeing Macready or Forrest on their respective stages. I also admired the ambient sound, which elevated the production. (Richardson also created a beautiful soundscape for A Streetcar Named Desire, which just closed at Playcrafters. He's a very busy guy.)
The "Shakespeare riot" at the heart of An All-American Riot is an episode of history worth knowing about. As the playwright/co-star writes in his program notes, the social environment of that time feels uncomfortably familiar. Richardson also points out that some of the absurdities included are absolutely accurate – not invented. Though I suspect the inclusion of a potato bigger than the Irishman's head was artistic license.
Barely There Theatre's An All-American Riot runs at the Black Box Theatre (1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL) through September 28, and more information and tickets are available by visiting Facebook.com/BarelyThereTheatreQC.
