Review: Forum's BUILDING THE WALL Misses the Mark

The theatre has a long and distinguished history of serving as a social conscience. From deploring racism with South Pacific's "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught" to Angel's in America exploration of the AIDS crisis, the theatre has been, and can be, a voice for positive change. Building the Wall at Forum Theatre fails to carry on that tradition. What aims to be a thought-provoking and cautionary tale about President Donald Trump's controversial campaign promise to build a wall along the US-Mexican border ends up being monotonous at best.

Playwright Robert Schenkkan is a master storyteller which is why Building the Wall is such a disappointment. His 2014 Tony Award Winning Best Play All the Way brought the legislative and political journey of the Civil Rights Act to life with great passion. He was even able to add fresh insight into politicians that have long been subject to the gaze of historians. But in Building the Wall, the characters come off as one-note in a formulaic back and forth with stilted dialogue, and quite a few clichés.

Whereas Richard Nelson's The Apple Family Plays poignantly explored the legacies of 9/11, the JFK assassination, Obama Administration and the Tea Party, Schenkkan's Building the Wall seems like an impulsive reaction to last November's election. The play is to immigration what the 1983 television movie The Day After was to nuclear disarmament, in that it tends to simply sensationalize the issue. We're left with little to take away other than a nightmare scenario built upon a hypothetical timeline and version of history.

Building the Wall is set in a prison interview room sometime in the immediate future. Gloria (Tracey Conyer Lee), a history professor, has come to interview convicted criminal Rick (Eric Messner). Why he's in prison and his connection to Trump's wall become apparent throughout the evening in a repetitive interview between the two.

With every question, we learn a little bit more about what brought Rick to prison while Gloria's hinting that a more disturbing revelation is on the horizon. This pattern largely goes on for 90 minutes where we learn the horrific outcome of Trump's immigration policies through Rick's behavior. Some details are provided about the state of the country under Trump, and what eventually happens to the 45th president, but the premise almost comes off as inconceivable.

Lee and Messner give satisfactory performances. Messner is able to channel Rick's inner torment and cynicism about the situation that unfolded under his command. It's here that Schenkkan attempts to explore the psyche of a Trump-supporter, failing to unearth any great insight. Rick is a veteran, living in Texas who is cynical about all politicians and ultimately attracted to Trump because of his entertainer persona. Rick's support of the president is consequential because it represents a missed opportunity to have a thoughtful dialogue about the motivation of Trump's voters and their rejection of political norms.

Meanwhile Lee does her best to display Gloria's determination to hear Rick's side of the story. What's lacking is why? Schenkkan's explanation does not fully satisfy us because both he and Lee seem unconvinced by the reason given - and he wrote the play!

By the final 15 minutes, Lee's role seems reduced to expanding upon the horrors unleashed by Rick through a series of one sentence questions. Lee stumbles in that her reaction to these events seems to be rather cold, even isolated. It's surprising considering how open Lee's Gloria was at the play's outset in speaking about her experience with racism.

Michael Dove's direction is tight and focused while Patrick Lord's stark and realistic prison set keeps the audience on edge. It's a feeling that's sustained thanks to Thomas Sowers' sound design which leads us to believe that the treatment of prisoners may not be completely legal.

Building the Wall is being presented not just at Forum Theatre, but across the country as part of the National New Play Network. In the coming months the play will not only be in DC and off-Broadway, but performed throughout the country. As for Schenkkan, his sequel to All the Way, The Great Society will be seen at Arena Stage next year.

The timing for Building the Wall could not seem more appropriate with the Trump Administration reaching their 100th day milestone this weekend. As the immigration debate is set to continue into the summer and fall, one only wishes that Building the Wall could have elevated the immigration issue rather than sensationalize it. There is the appetite for a national conversation on immigration and Building the Wall could have been the conduit to a civil and thought-provoking conversation. Instead, it chooses to be neither.

Runtime is 90 minutes with no intermission

Building the Wall runs through May 7 at Arena Stage's Kogod Cradle - 1101 6th St SW, Washington, DC 20024. It then moves to Forum Theatre - 8641 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910 - running May 18-27. For tickets please click here or call (301) 588-8279.

Photo: Tracey Conyer Lee and Eric Messner. Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography.