Gorilla Theatre is back.
The scrappy little company, that only a few months ago lost its longtime home in the Drew Park district of Tampa, is presenting Matthew Lopez’s fine play The Whipping Man at the Springs Theatre in Sulphur Springs, and the transition is an exceedingly successful one. You notice it first when you step into the space and see Greg Bierce’s complex set representing the tall and deep interior of a gutted Southern mansion. The old Gorilla could never have found room for such a thing. You notice it again as you walk to your perch among the hundred or so seats that the capacious Springs building permits. The old Gorilla could only offer half as many. And you notice it for sure when The Whipping Man begins and you see three top actors — Kim Sullivan, Drew Valins, and Zo-Vallejo Bryant — dominate the stage, and your attention, as successfully as actors ever did back on old N. Hubert Ave. This is first-rate, professional theater — and good evidence that Gorilla is neither down nor out. I can’t help but think that it may be beginning the very best phase in its history.
The Whipping Man takes place in Richmond, Virginia, just days after the end of the Civil War. A wounded Confederate soldier, Caleb, lurches into a house, collapses, and is attended to by a newly liberated slave named Simon. Caleb and his family were slave-owners before the war began, and among their chattel were peace-loving Simon and also John, who shows up minutes later, and who bears a lot of anger against his former owners. But before any settling of scores, there’s Caleb’s gangrenous leg to attend to. Caleb refuses to be taken to a hospital, suggesting that he may be a deserter, afraid of military justice. So another solution is found — you might need a strong stomach for a few seconds — and then the three men happen to note that, by the Jewish calendar, it’s the first day of Passover. Caleb and his family are Jewish, it seems, and have taught all their slaves to celebrate Passover and Rosh Hashanah. So now there’s a new challenge: to find foods for the seder table, and to hold a makeshift service. Only problem is, the commemoration of the Israelite escape from slavery brings up some rather sensitive issues. To make matters worse, just about everyone involved in the seder has some secret knowledge about himself and the others, and this information won’t sit tight.
By the end of the evening, several revelations have taken place, and there’s nothing to do but realign forces. On a lot of burning issues, we discover, there’s been no Appomattox.
Lovingly directed by James Rayfield, the three members of the Gorilla cast all turn in splendid work. Most central, however, is Kim Sullivan as Simon, the former slave who represents reason and decency in this threesome. It was only a few weeks ago that I was delighting in Sullivan’s acting in Seven Guitars at American Stage, and after seeing the present performance, I’m convinced that he is simply one of the best actors in Florida. This is a performer who allows you to see beyond the words that he speaks to the emotions he suppresses, the hopes he nourishes, and the goodness he quietly and honestly conserves. As his fellow former slave John, Zo Vallejo-Bryant is Simon’s opposite: flamboyant and bitter, a proud thief from abandoned homes, a resentful showman. Finally, Drew Valins turns in top-notch work as Confederate soldier Caleb, dependent on the other two because of his injury, contrite but not enough, and not entirely conscious that his ex-slaves now have more power than he does. The last time I reviewed Valins was over a decade ago, if I remember correctly, and though I liked his work then, he’s only matured since. Maureen Patrick’s period costumes are persuasive (and in John’s case, sometimes comic), and Lynne Locher’s sound design has us melodically remembering that “Johnny’s Gone For A Soldier.”
So, congratulations Gorilla. You’re back with a winner. And as author Lopez is a USF graduate, you’re standing up for local talent.
Here’s hoping to see you on your feet for a long time.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2012.