And it's pretty on-target.
Adapted by Romulus Linney from Ernest Gaines' National Book Award-winning novel, the play far outshines its mall surroundings. A tale of Deep South race relations, capital punishment and religion, it's a bold choice to kick off Deep Dish's second season.
Set in 1948 in a fictional town in Louisiana, the breezily paced play doesn't waste any time pulling the audience into the drama-charged tale. College-educated teacher Grant Wiggins (Leonardo DeLaine) wants to get out of his hometown and pursue better jobs and more money. But an old benefactor forces him to visit Jefferson (Torrey Lawrence), a past student who's now on death row.
As Wiggins, DeLaine wins over the audience with his desperation to do both what's expected of him and what he wants to do -- to be loyal and to break away once and for all. Earnest and charismatic, DeLaine is in every scene of the play, a marathon torch he more than carries.
Lawrence is all emotion as Jefferson, whom we meet in a catatonic, defeated state -- resigned to his fate and acting like the animal the jury took him for. It is Wiggins' task to rescue Jefferson's dignity, and watching Lawrence slowly reveal his character's layers is equally gripping and heartbreaking.
Deep Dish's stripped-down presentation of "Lesson" is bare and all the better for it. It feels raw and immediate, haunted and stirring. The simple set is claustrophobic and confining, only amplifying Jefferson's plight and Wiggins' entrapment. From the cast and crew on down, the entire production is a commercial for getting the most out of what seems so little.
Don't let Deep Dish's University Mall location scare you away, because when the talented cast takes the stage, it's tough to imagine being anywhere other than Louisiana 50 years in the past, which was an impossibly tragic and uplifting place. Productions with better theaters would be hard-pressed to do any better.
"A Lesson Before Dying" shows are at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. until Sept. 7 at Deep Dish Theater at University Mall. Tickets are $12 or $10 for students and seniors.
