FATHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS
Paradoxically, Janis seems to have voluntarily isolated himself, even though the forces that are also pushing him into isolation seem entirely beyond his control. For example, when Janis visits Dr. Angoff (Darwin R. Apel), a white psychiatrist who seems genuinely committed to helping him, Angoff shows Janis his file. It says in part that Janis, “like many of the black race,” has internalized racist stereotypes, become self-hating. Janis tears into Angoff furiously, telling him that he has no right to speak about “the black race” when he has had little contact with and shows even less understanding of black people. Yet what makes the scene so powerful is that Angoff is probably right: Janis does seem full of self-hatred. But because of an elaborate set of cultural norms that have allowed whites to speak on behalf of blacks for centuries, Janis cannot listen to Angoff. This seems the true tragedy of racism: that two people with the best intentions cannot connect because of the system that entombs both.
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Stetson’s script offers enormous challenges, and the Chicago Theatre Company meets every one of them. Chuck Smith’s elegant direction is efficient and formal: he places his actors almost choreographically, blocking them along particular lines of motion from which they rarely veer. The play is thus perfectly clean, as the actors for the most part stand in one spot and deliver their lines with a simple commitment. There is no decoration here–nothing unnecessary, no showy theatrics for the actors to hide behind. Smith has distilled this play to its essence, giving the actors the room to commit fully to their roles.
