Performing arts ~ JQA ~ The Gamm Theatre ~ Warwick

JQA
The Gamm Theatre
1245 Jefferson Blvd.
Warwick, Rhode Island
October 28-November 17, 2019
Tickets

"Complicated, passionate and difficult, John Quincy Adams was a brilliant diplomat, congressman, and ineffectual one-term president known for his eloquence, arrogance and integrity. This unique, highly-theatrical play by award-winning playwright Aaron Posner (Stupid F**king Bird) imagines key confrontations between JQA and some of America’s most dynamic figures: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, his own father, John Adams and more. At once provocative, haunting and hilarious, this power play challenges the way we think of our country, our government and ourselves."

Helena Tafuri as Louisa Adams, Jonathan Higginbotham as John Quincy Adams

JQA is a fictional imagining of conversations between John Quincy Adams and various people in his lifetime, including his parents John and Abigail Adams, his wife Louisa, George Washington, Henry Clay, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln.

That's right, John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) had the remarkable fortune that he knew and talked to George Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln.

The title role is played in rotation by the four actors onstage, each donning a red overcoat when playing the lead.

Candice Brown as John Quincy Adams, Jonathan Higginbotham as Frederick Douglass

We begin with ten-year-old JQA (Helena Tafuri), being lectured by his father John (Normand Beauregard), on government. Self-government. That childhood lecture informs JQA's interactions throughout the rest of the play. Tafuri brings a mischievous twinkle to the young JQA.

Easily my favorite performer was Jonathan Higginbotham. Resolutely withdrawn as JQA during his fatherhood years, he pivots to the smug self-confidence of Andrew Jackson, a proud slave holder who admonishes the older JQA on dangerous government overreach. From there he takes on the eloquent, barely-controlled rage of Frederick Douglass. The man has range.

Normand Beauregard as John Quincy Adams. Background: Candice Brown as Louisa Adams

Beauregard is perfectly cast as the elder Adams, JQA in his 50s, and Henry Clay. Stentorian and jovial as drunken Clay, gruff as both JQA and his father, he most physically resembles Adams at that point in his life. The photo below shows Adams in his 70s.

JQA, 1843

Candice Brown is highly entertaining as the fatherly-but-manipulative George Washington. She plays Abigail Adams and JQA in their later years, and it's so interesting to compare/contrast mother and son in their old age. There's a tart "don't waste my time, I don't have much left," to both performances, but with subtle differences.

Candice Brown as George Washington, Jonathan Higginbotham as Secret Service

Not only would I recommend the play to anyone with an interest in American history, but to anyone who'd look at current events through a historic lens. There are plenty of winks to the current climate in the dialog.


Photo credit: Peter Goldberg