I have been to a number of plays about the Lizzie Borden case and one thing is constant: you never know how good it is going to be until you are sitting in the theatre and watching it live, for yourself. I have been both amazed and surprised by what I have witnessed, and plays that shouldn’t have worked because they relied on stereotypes and myths instead of literal facts have been the best. The trial of Lizzie Borden, as a piece of history, is dull, as any trial is. But dramatize it, add flesh and blood actors, manipulate the story to suit the playwright’s vision of reality, and you can produce a great piece of theatre—which is the point, after all.
It is unfortunate that I am not in LA for this production, but have a few actor-friends who I can talk into going and reporting back to me about the show. I will post their review here at a later date.
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group Presents:
THE TRIAL OF LIZZIE BORDEN For all the talk of our sociocultural evolution, look no further than the sixth installment of the gory-glorifying serial killer movie series Saw, or the rapt attention given to an especially gasp-inducing murder trial, as a gauge of Americans’ fascination with the instinct to kill. Not just kill, either — the stronger the scent of blood, the hungrier the public’s appetite. You could finger Lizzie Borden’s 1892 trial as the trigger for this obsession. Writer-director Steven Sabel’s world premiere is adapted from the transcripts of the double hatchet murders of Abby and Andrew Borden, for which their daughter Lizzie was arrested and ultimately acquitted. Sabel wisely keeps the stage bare, focusing instead on recollections that twist so sharply you almost need a crib sheet to keep up. Jeremy Mascia’s lead prosecutor, Hosea Knowlton, relies on overbearing theatrics as his primary cross-examination tactic, but it’s in line with the typical portrayal of the courtroom in film; Annie Freeman is as wide- and wild-eyed as famous photos of the accused. The play feels lacking, but perhaps that’s more a reflection of our CSI culture than of the material. Tom Newman’s icy original music, particularly the hollow whispering of the children’s jump-rope rhyme “Lizzie Borden took an ax,” is literally hair-raising. (Rebecca Haithcoat). ZJU Theater Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8:30 p.m.; thru Feb. 5. (818) 202-4120.
