REVIEW: Triumphant RADIO GOLF at Baltimore's CenterStage

With Radio Golf, the late August Wilson has completed his by-the-decade survey of the 20^th century through the filter of the African-American experience – and what a way to end. This production, at Baltimore's CenterStage is as close to perfection as I have ever seen.

The play is a stunning and rich tapestry of ideas (our responsibility to account for the past while hurtling toward the future; wealth does not buy wisdom, etc.) and conflicts (youth vs. wisdom, rich vs. poor, honesty vs. corruption). Early in Act One, the main character, a mayoral candidate in Pittsburgh, corrects his being identified by race by saying, "No, I am an American." Truer words were never spoken in a play that has really so little to do with race, and more about the state of our country and its citizens. Wilson's beautiful use of language and poetic monologues deliver the wide spectrum of ideologies and their presentation from outright screaming matches and angry, profanity-laden speeches to equally powerful and wondrously quiet moments of old school storytelling. It would be so easy to have slipped into didactic pronouncements, but the playwright has a given the audience a real gift (aided by the strong hand of director Kenny Leon) in not allowing his characters to be overwrought or heavy-handed. Instead, little things like the placement of a Tiger Woods poster near a poster of Martin Luther King, Jr., speak volumes about not only the characters that put them up, but also the state of African-American, no, ALL American ideals.

The basic story is that of real estate magnate, Harmond Wilks, his wife, Mame, and his business partner, Roosevelt Hicks, who are in the midst of a multi-million dollar redevelopment deal, which they hope will propel Harmond into a well-calculated run for the mayorship of Pittsburgh. All is going according to plan until one house (which appears in other plays of the cycle) remains standing, and the truth about it is revealed by a mysterious stranger named Elder and a wandering worker named Sterling. That truth sets the wheels in motion for a showdown between doing what is the right thing and compromising everything one stands for. And while this is a time-tested, frequent theme in all of literature, the twists and turns and scathing commentary about the class system (not just Black or White – American) make Radio Golf a fresh, thrilling piece of theatre.

Literally every theatrical element, from the script to the direction to the design, has come together in that rare and elusive, but oft dreamed about way. There is not one moment, one inch of space on the set or one inch of thread on a costume or one single prop that doesn't fully support the meanings (and there are many) of this play. Kenny Leon has directed a tight, fast-paced thrill ride – one moment funny, the next silence inducing shocking, and still the next enraging. He has brought out the musicality of Wilson's wonderful speeches, and the complicated rhythms of Americanism. The visually gripping set, designed by David Gallo and lit by Donald Holder, is a searing rendering of everything the play is trying to say about our unbelievable shunning of history: the central office set is brightly lit to reveal intricate designs in the ancient tin roof and moldings around the arched windows, surrounded in very dark earth tones by the remnants of a barbershop, a soda shop, and upstairs apartments filled with relics left behind by the decades of humanity that filled each room. The costumes (designed by Susan Hilferty) and musical interludes (composed by Kathryn Bostic, sound by Amy C. Wedel) frame this artistic masterpiece in a terrific, unobtrusive way as well.

There are not enough synonyms for excellence to adequately describe the quality of the five actors in the play. Each give bravura performances, and display the truest example of the term "ensemble" I have seen in nearly a quarter century of theatre going. Each performance is so riveting that every time a character enters, the excitement level (it is palpable) in the audience kicks up another notch, and you find yourself looking forward to the next time they appear. Onstage for nearly the entire two and half hours is Rocky Carroll as Harmond. He brilliantly parcels out bits of his character so that as his beliefs and inner conflicts unfurl, the character builds like a gorgeous symphony. In lesser hands, this role could have taken the swaggering he-man type to new heights of arrogance, pomposity and bravado. Instead, you get a full, real man whose journey of re-self-discovery is a universal revelation. Mr. Carroll is simply stunning. As his wife, Denise Burse gives a strong, gutsy performance. She is particularly riveting as you see her descend into despair as the world that she helped create and stood by for crumbles around her at the cost of both career and marriage. James A. Williams as Harmond's business partner and lifelong friend, Roosevelt triumphs in a complex, wide-ranging role. In the turn of one phrase, his character goers from likeable-root-for-the-guy to horrifyingly menacing. He is a brilliant match for Carroll and the other two characters, Elder (Anthony Chisholm in a career defining portrayal) and Sterling (in a fierce, funny and gripping turn by John Earl Jelks). When these two arrive on the scene, a huge dose of truth and opinion-changing ideals threatens everything Harmond, his wife, and Roosevelt have believed in and worked toward. The events that lead to the fully satisfying conclusion should serve to remind all Americans, regardless of race, status or education that we are dangerously close to implosion if we don't learn to stand up for what is right and not what suits each of us individually.

I will be blunt. You are really missing an event that Baltimore theatre hasn't seen in some time if you miss this brilliant, thought-provoking production at CenterStage. It is one of those truly rare occasions where you leave the theatre a better person than when you arrived. 

PHOTOS: Main Page: James A. Williams and Rocky Carroll; Above: Anthony Chisholm and Rocky Carroll. Phoots by Richard Anderson.

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