Assassins: Research and Development

Hi. My name is Michelle and I freaked myself out today.

No really.

I began building the research wall for Assassins this afternoon.  Visual brainstorming has always been a really effective way for me to connect with shows. I use to love the production meetings where everyone brought research and sketches. It creates a common starting place, connections are made, ideas evolve.

I wanted to focus on the relationships between all the characters and to do that I had to start with individuals. Who were they, what happened, why? But as the wall began to come together and facts began to interlace the wall took on a sinister quality that was more than the sum of its parts.

The history itself is dark and unforgiving. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. This means that there were a couple of generations that witness three successful presidential assassinations in the course of their lifetime. It’s hard to image what that might have meant for the moral of still very young country.

How could you do it, Johnny,
Calling it a cause?
You left a legacy
Of butchery
And treason we
Took eagerly,
And thought you’d get applause.

Adding the presidents gave the whole wall a gravity that it had lacked. Victims. There was a chaos inherent in the order I was trying to create. And the assassins themselves, some killed outright, some executed, some jailed, some now released. Layers of desperation and insanity that make a person uneasy, edgy, cautious.

Reading over an article on Guiteau and his courtroom performances I came to the end of the summary. The author describes how he went waving and smiling to the gallows and standing there, read a poem that he had written for the occasion entitled, “I am going to the Lordy.”

Everything became very still. I flipped over to my itunes and called up the Assassins soundtrack and played “The ballad of Guiteau.” It was from the poem. At the beginning of the poem Guiteau qualifies “I am now going to read some verses which are intended to indicate my feelings at the moment of leaving this world.  If set to music they may be rendered very effective.”

And he was right.

My friends were sad that my afternoon of fun turned into an afternoon of very serious reflection and unease. To be truthful I’m glad that this is developing now. Better for me to weather the storm of the seriousness of the subject matter now so that I will be better able to guide my cast and crew through it in September. It took me quite by surprise and I have no doubt it will them as well. And it should.

For the production the weight of all of this will provide a very good anchor point. A depth and respect for the story that might be easily treated with a flip attitude and a tendency to lean more heavily on the funny bits. It also means that the audience’s experience must be carefully considered. Because while the seriousness of the situation should be evident, it should not be overwhelming to the point of being a negative experience.

I will keep adding things to the wall and keep my mind open about its possibilities. There is still a lot to learn and auditions will be here before we know it.