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Race

Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Kirk Douglas Theatre
Through Sept. 28

RECOMMENDED:

In his 2009 drama, David Mamet’s delves into the ever-controversial issue of race. Though it lacks the raw dramatic pull of some of Mamet’s other works, it’s certainly timely and is a nimble display of the edgy, slick word-craft he’s renowned for.

Charles Strickland (Jonno Roberts) is a wealthy white man accused of raping a black woman. He hires an upscale law firm that “happens” to have one white partner Jack Lawson (Chris Bauer), and an African-American one, Henry Brown (Dominic Hoffman), as well as a newcomer, Susan (DeWanda Wise), who is also black.

From the opening scene in the office (forged with stately elegance by Jeffery P. Eisenmann), the racial dynamics of the case — and just as much, perhaps more so, those of the legal team — open the floodgates of racially tinged dialogue, divisiveness, sexual politics and innuendo, animated by a convulsive spate of often humorous one-liners. This is a cleverly layered scenario that not only incises the acute self-consciousness and/or obliviousness that often attends, for good or ill, white people’s interactions with black folks, it also skewers the devious machinations and cynicism of high-stakes defense lawyering in the criminal justice system.

Lawson is a cold-blooded hired gun whose eyes are not on justice but on his pocketbook; Brown is all slick scheming, while the rookie Wise is quietly calculating, and winds up throwing a feminine wrench into this all-male pageant. Act 2 features some plot twists, and also ratchets up the focus on the ugly matters that were presented in Act I. All cast performances are excellent under Scott Zigler’s unfaltering direction.

Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 W Washington Blvd, Culver City: Tue.-Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; thorugh Sept. 28. (213) 972-7231, CenterTheatreGroup.org