BWW Reviews: Ocean State Theatre's Riveting THE MEETING Should Not Be Missed

There is a well-known Native American proverb about the spirits of two wolves that live inside all of us. One is violent and aggressive. The other is peaceful and benevolent. The wolves are always fighting and the one that wins, according to the proverb, is the one we feed the most. In every battle we fight, we can choose which way to respond. Are we going to react with aggression and violence or with compassion and empathy?. Two of the greatest leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, were similarly two sides of the same coin. One preached nonviolent protest while the other was willing to use violence to stop or defend against violence.

In Jeff Stetson's play The Meeting, receiving its New England premiere at Ocean State Theatre Company, we witness an imagined encounter between these two men, who in real life met only once, all too briefly. This time, they get a little over an hour, in a hotel room in Harlem in 1965, to discuss, debate and arm wrestle, figuratively and literally, over the best way to achieve their common goals.

Stetson's script is confidently and competently written, providing a very realistic and believable meeting between these two iconic figures. He's clearly done his research and put a lot of intellectual and emotional intelligence into the dialogue he crafts. In regard to the subject matter, he does stay pretty much at the surface, focusing on their methods and goals as leaders and never trying to dig deep down into the emotional lives of these men. While he does offer a few nice moments when they think or talk about their wives and children, Stetson never really gives us any revelations about their deeper emotional lives, desires or motivations.

While that's completely understandable (Stetson has a particular point to get across and he sticks to it), it's less clear why he wrote his script so that it's much more Malcolm X's story. It would be interesting to talk to the playwright and find out if that was his intention, to focus so much more on Malcolm X. To ask him why he decided to use Malcolm as the framing device for the story, why he made Malcolm the one we get to know better, the one we are more likely to root for and sympathize with (if that was, in fact, his intention). At times, Martin Luther King, Jr. seems more like a supporting character or one who's just there to help tell Malcolm X's story.

Stetson's sparkling dialogue is brought to vivid life by director Amiee Turner, who keeps things moving right along. The show only runs about one hour and twenty minutes but it feels even faster than that. While the pace is fairly quick, it never feels like moments are lost or not given their due. There are also some nice blocking touches by Turner, as she creates moments of tension between these two men who do not always see eye to eye.

While Turner has directed a number of large productions with many cast members, this one has only three. The shortest amount of stage time goes to Tony Mitchell as Rashad, Malcolm X's bodyguard. He's an imposing and charismatic actor who is fun to watch while he interacts with the other two, albeit briefly.

Giving one of the best performances of the theatrical season thus far is Damron Russel Armstrong as Malcolm X. As mentioned, his brilliant portrayal in this production may be, in part, because the script just gives him so much more to do, to sink his teeth into. To say that, though, would be taking the proper credit away from Armstrong, who brings an amazing amount of charisma and stage presence to the role. It's impossible to not watch him and hang on his every word, movement and expression as he shifts with ease from loving father and husband to volatile leader of the cause.

Unfortunately, alongside Armstrong's presence, Marcus Denard Johnson pales in comparison as Martin Luther King, Jr. It's a tall order for any actor to portray such a captivating, compelling and iconic figure, but Johnson really doesn't seem up to the task. He just lacks the charisma and stage presence that the role calls for. His expressions are almost always the same, he always seems bored or irritated and while he clearly is trying to get King's speech patterns down, he is hard to hear or understand at times. There are stretches where he just sits there doing nothing and more than a few moments when he seems to disappear from the stage completely. This, again, is partly due to the script and partly to the comparison to his cast mate, so it can't all be blamed on Johnson. He does certainly seem to be trying to give his all to the role and do it justice.

As usual, Ocean State does do justice to the play's technical elements. Turner, while directing and also having a hand in the video projections, designed a perfectly minimal, simple and straightforward set (although it does have the ugliest curtains in the history of ugly curtains). Orville Scott's lighting design is spot-on and Brian Horton's costumes are excellent (although it does make one wonder if Malcolm X always looked so well-dressed and Martin Luther King, Jr. always wore dumpy, ill-fighting suits, which is hard to believe).

Put together, all of the elements make this a finely crafted, crisp production that works well in every way. But, like all great plays, it's more than just the sum of its parts. It is a play that must be seen, that cries out to be seen and talked about and discussed. It is a play that is about so much more than one moment in one hotel room and one conversation between two men who happened to be integral players in the history of this country.

This is a play about many, many moments that have been happening ever since 1965 and are still going on all around us every day. It's a play about justice and injustice, struggles and battles, wrongs and rights, and the people who are being wronged constantly, often for no reason other than their religion or the color of their skin. That's why this play should be seen by you and me and everyone we know. Because, again, like all great theater, it forces us to reflect on our lives, our world, our place in the world and how we will choose to react to everything that happens in it.

The Meeting runs through February 15th at Ocean State Theatre Company, at 1245 Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick. Performances are Wednesday (except Feb. 4), Thursday (except Feb. 12), Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, with matinees on Thursday (except Feb. 12), Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $34 to $49 for all other performances and are on sale at the box office Monday through Friday 12 noon to 6pm, Saturdays from 12 noon to 4pm and from 12 noon to curtain time on performance days. Tickets also available at www.OceanStateTheatre.org adn via telephone at 401-921-6800.

Pictured (L to R): Damron Russel Armstrong and Marcus Denard Johnson. Photo by Mark Turek.

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