[ Metro | Metroactive Central ]

Anarchy in the U.S.A.

The trial of the early century dramatized in 'Sacco-Vanzetti

By Anne Gelhaus

City Lights Theater Company's production of Sacco-Vanzetti is well timed, coming as it does on the heels of another "Trial of the Century" in which the crime was double murder, evidence was tainted, witnesses committed perjury and the ethnicity of the defendant played a central role.

In Sacco and Vanzetti's case, however, their status as Italian immigrants--and anarchists, no less--was used against them to cloud the fact that the district attorney had virtually no case. The strategy convinced the jury to convict the two men, and they languished in prison from 1921 to 1927, through seven failed appeals and worldwide outcry against the verdict, until being put to death.

Argentinean playwright Mauricio Kartun lays out the case's moral and legal issues clearly and compellingly in his script, although he drives home some of the play's more obvious messages about corruption and prejudice with a bit of a heavy hand. The show could use a bit of trimming in the final scenes, in which characters stand on their soap boxes long enough to overstate their points.

Overall, though, City Lights director Peter Hadres keeps the drama taut, and the large cast moves effortlessly from the courtroom scenes to glimpses of the gross manipulation of justice that occurred behind the scenes. Dennis Martin plays slimy DA Frederick Katzmann with subdued relish, and watching Katzmann and Judge Webster Thayer (Doyne Mraz) negotiate what they each consider a fair trial is truly frightening.

David Angelo and Michael Bini are marvelously complex in their roles as Sacco and Vanzetti, respectively. Since the audience knows going in that the trial was a travesty, much of the drama comes from watching the two defendants, who are already disillusioned with their adopted country, struggle to keep their beliefs and faith in themselves alive as their ordeal unfolds.

Dialogue coach Ferdinand Rodriguez y Baena has worked with the two actors to make their heavily accented English sound authentic. In a clever twist, the men drop their accents when talking to each other to indicate that they're speaking in Italian.

Don Hiatt's set design creates the right atmosphere both for the trial and the era in which it took place: The two main set pieces are the judge's bench and jury box, framed by painted caricatures of familiar photos like the snapshot of Sacco and Vanzetti sitting handcuffed together outside the courtroom.

Although this image is familiar, it's doubtful that many folks under age 30 understand the importance of the Sacco and Vanzetti case. While it's not like watching a trial on TV, seeing this play is a painful, personal lesson about the flaws in our justice system.

---

Sacco-Vanzetti plays Thursday�Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm through Dec. 9 at City Lights Theater, 529 S. Second St., San Jose. Tickets are $10�$13.50. (408/295-4200)


---

[ Metro | Metroactive Central ]