The Whipping Man

Blair Ussary

            Matthew Lopez’s “The Whipping Man” opened to the audience on February 19^th, 2015. The dark, twisted drama centered around Caleb DeLeon (Jean Tartiere) and his two former slaves Simon (William Cogshell) and John (David Jackson) right after the events of the Civil War in April of 1865. An injured confederate soldier, Caleb limps home on a dark, stormy night, to find that his former slave, Simon, has taken residence in the DeLeon home until Caleb’s family returns. The rain seems to hang like an ominous cloud above the cast, as the night’s gruesome events come to a head, and the next two days become the longest of Caleb DeLeon’s life.

            We’ll start with the scenic design of the play. Scenic designer Brad M. Carlson took the audience into a dark, damp world deep in the South. Even though the South is a generally agreed upon hot and humid region, Carlson’s design included a constant backdrop of rain that both soothed and unnerved. For however soothing a gentle rain can be, the fact that the rain never seemed to let up or slow down instilled eeriness across the audience. And one moment that seemed to only enhance the creepiness is the fact that not one actor ever mentions how much rain there is. It’s as if having it rain for three days straight is a completely normal thing. Another noted scenic design that I found quite fascinating is the deterioration of the house. At the beginning of the play, Caleb asks, “What happened to the house?” to which Simon dryly responds, “The same that happens everywhere.” In this, the broken windows and shattered banister is a shadow of what was once meant to be a great, southern home.

            But no set would be complete without lighting. Vincente Wiliams’ design gave the set another layer upon which the actor’s built their story on. For instance, when the gas lamps that are dotted throughout the room light up at the beginning of the third scene, the soft, yellow glow of the lamps seemed to cast haunting shadows across the faces of the sickly Caleb, which only made him look more gaunt and worn. And in the very first scene, when Caleb is sitting still and trying to drink his sorrows away, a wide, overhead light is cast down on Caleb from above, to which we see a chandelier. As I’m sure it was completely intentional, it looked exactly how I would picture that lit chandelier would gaze down at the melancholy Caleb, which was a nice touch.

            Flipping to the actor’s themselves, the costume design was one of my favorite aspects. Costume designer (and director) Clyde Ruffin’s designs were tragically beautiful. When Caleb DeLeon first stumbled into his home, the first thing that drew my eyes was the ripped hole in his right leg. And as it turns out, it was a bullet hole that betrayed a sickening wound underneath. Caleb’s once glorious captain’s uniform is now all but a funeral shroud, a cruel reminder of his cowardice. Whereas Caleb looks beaten and worn, John’s wardrobe only enhances as the play continues. What once starts out as a tatty shirt and worn pants soon comes to a beautiful climax in the last scene of the play, when we see John in a resplendent maroon coat, vest, and pants. The paradox between Caleb and John is highlighted in this moment, even though John’s clothes were most likely “liberated.”

A Whip-Smart Set (An Excerpt)

            MU Theater Production’s “The Whipping Man” would be nothing without its marvelous set, designed by Brad M. Carlson. The constant backdrop of a heavy rain is the first thing the audience will hear, and it will be a constant noise nearly the entire play. This melancholy sound would prove to be almost a foreshadow of the dark times that lay ahead for all three characters, as nobody in this play ends up happy. The broken, damp house and walls paired with the rainy weather beautifully. It seemed like the rain was an oppressive thumb that pushed against the once beautiful house, breaking his windows and its spirit. The almost furniture-less room and busted banister echoed with the sounds of the constant, heavy rain. The peeling wallpaper seemed stripped away by the moisture until all you were left with was the sense that it would hold in that rain forever.