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King Hedley II |
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Author: August Wilson
Reviewer: Michael Bracken for Theatre Reviews Limited |
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King Hedley is not a king in the traditional sense. That’s just his name, as it was his father’s. But he has a royal bearing and a royal temperament. He is a monarch who believes the world should be his domain, but the fiefdom he surveys is a tiny patch of dusty dirt that doesn’t even belong to him.
  
King Hedley is angry, very angry, and perhaps with good reason. His mother left him in the care of another woman at an indeterminate young age, so he’s angry at her. His wife doesn’t want to bear the child she’s carrying, so he’s angry at her. And he’s a black male with a prison record in the Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1985, so he’s angry at the world. The U.S. economy may be booming, but the boom has passed over the kingdom of Hedley.
Brian Stokes Mitchell has Hedley’s royalty nailed: he is a very commanding presence. His anger is equally convincing, but less of an asset in illuminating his character or the play. Anger can be a great motivator and a catalyst for action. But it doesn’t seem to motivate King Hedley to do much except yell. And when anger is a character’s only emotional note, as it is here, it gets monotonous. This is not to say that his character is unrealistic - there are men who are angry all the time, but they’re not protagonists of dramas with classical aspirations. We assume that underneath the surface is a complex individual, but we have to take it on faith, since we don’t really see it.
This is not to single out Mr. Mitchell. It appears to be how his character was written by August Wilson, and it’s certainly how he was directed by Marion McClinton. But regardless of who is responsible, it deprives the play of an essential ingredient, a compelling title character.
“King Hedley II” is a naturalistic play that aims high and achieves, to a limited extent, the epic proportions it seeks. King is clearly meant to be a tragic hero and Mr. Mitchell brings authority to the role of King, as well as hubris to burn. The play has five other characters, each of whom has a complexity that King lacks. A next door neighbor named Stool Pigeon, who gives the term god-fearing new meaning, functions as a chorus of sorts. The play has some humor and a healthy dose of symbolism. But while it has all the trimmings, it doesn’t have the core. There is virtually no growth or development in King’s character as the play progresses. He talks more than once about being a changed man, but it’s just talk. He goes out the same way he: comes in: a proud lion who will accept nothing if it’s not on his terms. Again, this is not unrealistic: characters like King often don’t or won’t change. But it doesn’t make for very dynamic drama.
King sells hot refrigerators, robs a jewelry store, and learns that his real father was not the first King Hedley. His real father was the man that Elmore, his mother’s new fiancé, murdered. Only Ruby and Elmore know the secret of King’s paternity until, against Ruby’s wishes, Elmore imparts this knowledge to King. The consequences are tragic if not completely predictable
Elmore’s motivation in telling King the secret of his paternity is the play’s weakest plot element. Elmore is a very polished con man, the type of person who knows the value of information and doesn’t reveal it unless there’s something in it for him. So why is he so intent on telling King he killed King’s father? Perhaps he wants to die. He has doubled over in pain three times in the course of the play, so maybe he’s dying anyway and wants to get it over with. But if this is the reason, and I’m not for a minute saying it is, it’s not communicated very well. I am grasping at straws to find a sensible explanation where none is given. Someone like Elmore doesn’t gratuitously give out information that could work against him unless he has a good reason.
The supporting cast of “King Hedley II” is excellent. Leslie Uggams plays King’s mother, Ruby, with stature equal to King’s and considerably more range. Charles Brown is like silk as the smooth talking Elmore. Monte Russell does a very nice job as King’s less regal best friend Mister, as does Viola Davis as his wife Tonya. Stephen McKinley Henderson gives Stool Pigeon a nice down to earth quality with just a touch of dementia.
I was not particularly impressed by Marion Mc Clinton’s direction. I think he has to be held largely responsible for Mr. Mitchell’s one note interpretation, and he does nothing to fill in the gaps when the play drags, as it sometimes does. “King Hedley II,” the eighth play that Mr. Wilson has written about the African American experience in the twentieth century, is rich with symbolism and texture, but short on the fundamental component of a dramatic and believable plot.
© 2001, Michael Bracken
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By August Wilson; directed by Marion McClinton: set design by David Gallo; costume design by Toni-Leslie James; lighting design by Donald Holder; produced by Stageworks, Benjamin Mordecai, Jujamcyn Theatres, 52nd Street Productions, Spring Sirkin, Peggy Hill, and Manhattan Theatre Club, in association with Kardana-Swinsky Productions; at the Virginia Theatre, 245 W. 52nd Street.
WITH Stephen McKinley Henderson (Stool Pigeon), Brian Stokes Mitchell (King), Leslie Uggams (Ruby), Monte Russell (Mister), Viola Davis (Tonya), and Charles Brown (Elmore).
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