The Wilma Theater presents Suzan-Lori Parks’s The America Play

In the vein of Ionesco or Beckett, Parks's elliptical writing takes the intellectually rigorous absurdist tradition and filters it through a fully American voice. The piece is written in her signature “Rep and Rev” (repetition and revision) style, which focuses on repeating dialogue to reveal the sharp, shifting nuances in the language we use. Director Lindsay Smiling brilliantly brings out the humor in the script, showcasing the dark comedy buried within an otherwise dense and poetic text.

A text like good jazz

The America Play’s first act is essentially a monologue in which The Foundling Father (played by Smiling himself) inhabits the “Hole of History” to reenact the assassination of Abraham Lincoln for a penny a shot. Smiling is incredibly captivating throughout this grueling act. Clearly aided by co-director Mark Wade, Smiling’s performance is finely calibrated, his exhausting monologue only interrupted by a cyclical parade of white customers who come to shoot him. In these brief roles, Campbell O’Hare and Ross Beschler are deeply impactful, displaying various chilling shades of white rage as they gleefully embody John Wilkes Booth. While this happens, the Foundling Father begins to reckon with his own choices to become a symbol. The exhaustion of his reenactment takes hold, leading to a downward-spiraling burnout.

The second act takes an unexpected turn, following The Foundling Father’s wife Lucy (Kimberly S. Fairbanks) and son Brazil (Brandon J. Pierce) as they search through the literal and figurative holes of history for remnants of their husband and father. Here, the meaning of history becomes further abstracted as a son tries to make sense of a father by rebuilding a legacy through structural scraps. It is also here where Parks’s “Rep and Rev” style finds its greatest impact. While utilized throughout the play, as the words of the father are echoed, we come to see them in surprising new contexts—like good jazz.

A tall thematic ask, beautifully rendered

This is not a play with much in the way of a plot, or climax, or resolution. This is certainly not an escapist night out at the theater. There are no clear answers here—only possible pathways to understanding and meaning. It is a tall thematic ask, but the company commits to the world of the play deeply. They aim to come to peace with a person who, like America itself, remains largely unknowable and full of contradictions. Is he a digger, a literal excavator of the past, or merely a faker? Or is to be one simply a sure path to becoming the other?

Visually, the production is gorgeous. Matthew Zumbo’s ambitiously designed set fills the space with the messy detritus of history alongside clever, haunting nods to Lincoln. Larry Fowler’s cheeky sound design helps the production balance a zippy tone with a profound seriousness of intent. Krista Smith’s lighting and Leigh Ivory Clark Paradise’s costumes are both highly effective and stunning. This is a wonderfully realized production of a rare work by an American master.

A promising new era

Quite fittingly, this production also marks the dawn of a new era for the institution. On opening night, it was announced that Lindsay Smiling will be taking over as the sole artistic director for the Wilma. If the sheer creative ambition of The America Play is any indication, the Wilma will continue to be a vital, indispensable artistic hub for Philadelphia and the country at large.