Dennehy Repeats Turn as "Trumbo" at Boston's Huntington Theatre

"Trumbo"

Written by Christopher Trumbo, Directed by Peter Askin, Scenery Design by Loy Arcenas, Lighting Design by Jeff Croiter, Original Music and Sound Design by John Gromada, Video Design by Dennis Diamond

Cast in order of appearance:

Christopher Trumbo, William Zielinski

Dalton Trumbo, Brian Dennehy

Performances: Now through March 6 at the Calderwood Pavilion

Box Office: 617-266-0800, 617-933-8600 or www.huntingtontheatre.org

As a proud native of one of the nation's leading Blue States, the review I am about to write may be skewed a bit left of center. Red State residents, be warned. You may want to stop reading now.

Despite its simple staging and low-key approach, the Huntington Theatre Company's production of "Trumbo," starring two-time Tony Award winner Brian Dennehy as blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, sends chills up and down the spine of anyone old enough to remember the Cold War of the 1950s and '60s. Through Dennehy's reading of Trumbo's brilliant and often scathing letters and his co-star William Zielinski's narration as Trumbo's son Christopher, the play evokes vivid images ranging from Hollywood icons being interrogated by the House Un-American Activities Committee to children cowering under classroom desks as their schools conduct nuclear attack drills.

"Trumbo" is both a son's affectionately respectful homage to his talented, loving, funny and principled father and a powerful indictment of how fear, paranoia, and self-righteous patriotism can evolve into political fascism and economic tyranny. It demonstrates through Trumbo's own unadorned verbal eloquence the impact that our government's rabid anti-Communist investigations had on a man, his family, his industry and his country.

Dennehy, a powerful actor of great stature, relies on uncharacteristic restraint rather than bombast to convey Trumbo's wit and wisdom. Seated behind a writing table for the entire play, Dennehy revels in his mercurial interpretations of the personal letters written by the same gifted man who penned the movies "Spartacus," "Roman Holiday," "Exodus" and "The Brave One."

In Trumbo's opening testimony before the HUAC, Dennehy mixes frustration, a twinge of arrogance, and a bit of wry humor with his determination to ignore what he sees as an unconstitutional line of questioning. He will neither confirm nor deny his membership in the Screen Writer's Guild (which the Committee equates with Communism), nor will he "name names" of possible Communists in Hollywood, as many of his colleagues have felt coerced to do. As a result, Trumbo is fired from MGM and sentenced to a year in prison for "contempt of Congress." Now seated in his jail cell instead of his library, he pens loving and poignant letters to family and friends – one a delightful and at the same time heartbreaking children's story to his 10-year-old son, another a protective father's lion-like assault on his daughter's insensitive elementary school leaders.

Once Trumbo has been released from prison and is living quite frugally with his family in Mexico, Dennehy shows a delicious comic side to his character. He can barely contain his delight at his own cleverness while reading a letter about literary criticism that Trumbo has written to his friend and fellow Hollywood exile, Ring Lardner. This is followed by a painful and touching tribute that Trumbo sends to the grieving mother of a deceased fellow WWII correspondent who fronted a screenplay for the blacklisted writer in order to get it sold. Next comes a fierce essay that blasts the complicity of the Hollywood studio executives whose enforcement of the employment embargo requested by Congress bankrupted numerous artists and ruined countless lives. Later, with the family back in the United States and Christopher in college, Dennehy regales his son – and the audience – with a hilarious recounting and analysis of Trumbo's adolescent guilty pleasures that still haunt him as an adult.

The way in which "Trumbo" gently alternates between son Christopher's narratives and father Dalton's letters allows the senior writer's beautifully crafted stories to speak quite literally for themselves. Trumbo's words are so passionate, so descriptive, that director Peter Askin has chosen to minimize movement to prevent distraction. Instead of relying on grand gestures or frantic pacing to emphasize emotion, Dennehy subtly shifts his position or changes his facial expression – nothing more. He also uses his voice masterfully to convey the surface meaning as well as the subtext of Trumbo's letters. He is at once writer and storyteller, creating and interpreting words in the same instant.

The sweet, relaxed rapport between Dennehy and Zielinski also serves "Trumbo" well. The actors often exchange affectionate glances and appreciative smiles that show the mutual love, pride and respect that father and son clearly shared. Their tangible relationship also makes real the impact that Trumbo's heroic choices had on his family. Had "Trumbo" been written as a one-man show, this important dimension would have been lost.

At one point during the jail sequence, the names of many of the 300 writers, actors, directors and producers who were blacklisted and forbidden to work in Hollywood during the Red Scare scroll by on a video screen. Among them are people who are now considered to be the most respected and influential artists of their time. Had these gifted leaders capitulated to political and economic pressures instead of bravely asserting their First Amendment rights, there's no telling what would have happened as a result of the HUAC hearings. Everyone's art may have subsequently been compromised, our basic freedoms irrevocably eroded, and plays like "Trumbo" forbidden to be staged.

America, "Trumbo" is food for thought. I recommend chewing slowly and savoring every bite.

To post a comment, you must register and login.