Review: IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT at Resident Ensemble Players

Aisle Say has had the privilege of reviewing this staggering talented ensemble since 2008. Still do I remember their second show of the season, THE IMAGINARY INVALID. The image of the enema gloves worn by Michael Gotch and Mic Matarrese is serving a life sentence in my cerebellum. These two actors and many of their colleagues from the PTTP Masters Program remain today, representing the culture that founder and now retired Sandy Robbins created.

Aisle Say does not normally begin a review with acclaiming the set. There is no curtain, so the audience is greeted with an astounding set of vertically cut scrims made of double-matte transparent film, allowing for both front and rear projections of 1962 newspapers. Projected behind them are videos of this racist era, exemplified by none other than chief polemicist/segregationist, Governor George Wallace of Alabama. If this didn’t establish the unbridled disdain for Blacks in the South, nothing would. This Production & Video Design by Patrick W. Lord was further enhanced by Britton Mauk’s set design of a crumbling antebellum mansion and the tense, heart thumping, bluesy original music by Lindsay Jones.

1962. There were no witnesses and seemingly no motive in the murder of a local land developer in Argo Alabama. There was a Black man waiting at the train station, Virgil Tibbs (Hassan El-Amin). To these rubes, he must be the murderer. He’s Black, right? Case closed. America was a racist society then (and continues today). And in the deep South it was even more rampant and unchecked. Unbeknownst to the sheriff and the rest of the town, Tibbs was a detective from California. Having lived these injustices and corruption all his life, Tibbs knows not to overreact and maintains a calm and stoic demeanor throughout the arrest.

Tibbs is taken before Sheriff Gillespie (Lee E. Ernst) for interrogation. Ernst’s thick, throaty Southern drawl was pitch perfect. When Tibbs explains to him who he is and says “Some people love to hate”, the arrogant sheriff’s demeanor changes. Yet his racism is so ingrained he has no reply and even in the final scene, will not change.

A deputy and KKK member in his free time,  Pete (Mic Matarrese) is the stereotypical sarcastic, wisecracking, bullying know-it-all. He is at odds with fellow deputy Sam Wood (Michael Gotch) and is constantly goading him about even considering Tibbs’ innocence. Gotch does a wonderful job as the insecure deputy. Yes, Wood was born in racist Alabama, yet we see him battle with right and wrong as we partners with Tibbs to find the real killer.

Harvey Oberst (Stephen Pelinski) plays the quintessential single-wide trailer park redneck. Fitted with dental prosthetics that would make Gary Busey proud, Oberst is confronted by Chief Gillespie as a possible suspect. Pelinski is brilliant. His frenetic, autistic-flailing twitches remind one of Joe Cocker singing “Feelin’ Alright”.

Pelinski doubles as Purdy, the bigoted father of Noreen Pudy (Tess Riley). A subplot of the drama is that Noreen was raped because she was thought to be 16. Purdy wants blood and puts a shotgun to Tibbs’ face. Again, Tibbs retains his composure. It is uncovered that Noreen is 18 and the sex she had (with possibly more than one townsmen) was not only consensual but happily solicited by this Alabama hussy. Riley has a delightful lilt to her Alabama drawl. She underplays her character beautifully; her dancing eyes subtly explaining her deception in front of Tibbs, Gillespie and Wood (to the consternation of her father). One of the funniest lines of this taut drama came when Noreen says she would like to date Sam Wood. The naïve and probably virginal Wood replies, “I don’t think so”.

Black people have been suppressed since they arrived as slaves on our shores. President Johnson had a lot to do with their equal rights. Let’s face it, America and the world will never be free of racism. We witness this today on CNN.

On a personal note, I attended white bread Brandywine High in the 60’s. We were middle class but more privileged, more entitled than the definition – and disparity - of middle class Black America. Of our 550 graduates, one Black girl. One. I cannot even imagine what Karen Foreman went through every day as she entered a class in a sea of white faces. I was part of the favored class. I feel ashamed.

The Roselle Center is ADA-compliant venue equipped with a hearing loop system that works with hearing aid t-coils, cochlear implants, and in-house hearing devices. Call for wheelchair and seating requests.

HEAT OF THE NIGHT - Through November 19 302.831.2204 REP (udel.edu)

Next Up – PASS OVER February 8 – 18 Emotionally charged with poetic and humorous riffs, this play asks, “what is the value of a young black man’s life?”

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