After an 18-month renovation, Ford’s Theatre has reopened with a world premiere of a play, “The Heavens Are Hung in Black,” by James Still. Commissioned for the opening of the theater, the play tells the story of Abraham Lincoln during five months in 1862, between the death of his young son and the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Still has written what at first glance appears to be a history play performed on a realistic set featuring some very recognizable characters: Edwin Stanton (Hugh Nees), William Seward (Edward James Hyland), Mary Todd Lincoln (Robin Moseley), Edwin Booth (Michael Kramer) and Walt Whitman (Michael Goodwin), among others.
Yet although it’s apparent that Still has done his homework, this is very much a poetic work, picturing not simply the Lincoln who made decisions that affected the country. Still’s Lincoln is a dreamer and fantasizer, a man who enjoys late-night discussions with Jefferson Davis (Edward James Hyland) and matching wits with the departed Dred Scott and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom (the impressive David Emerson Toney in both roles).
David Selby artfully brings both the poetic and the practical Lincoln to life: From his self-deprecating humor to his great appreciation of Shakespeare, Selby’s Lincoln is complex and convincing.
The cast of “The Heavens Are Hung in Black” is a well-balanced ensemble, skillfully directed by Stephen Rayne to allow the more historical elements of the text to flow freely into the more symbolic. Ryan Rumery’s sound design and music are effective throughout. Takeshi Kata’s set gradually becomes impressionistic, using projections on a white ceiling to depict clouds, rain, a river.
The power of “The Heavens Are Hung in Black” comes from its depth of perception about a human being, not the mythical, larger-than-life creation of historians. Still’s Lincoln is a flesh-and-blood man who suffered terribly over the casualties of the Civil War, a devoted husband and dedicated father, a man who sometimes snuck out of the White House to walk by himself and think, a man who needed to talk to — and belong to — the people.
If you go
‘The Heavens Are Hung in Black’
Where: Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday (except today, Feb. 12 and Feb. 15), 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (except Feb. 15), 11 a.m. Feb. 19, noon Feb. 26 and March 5
Info: $16 to $52; 202-397-7328; 202-434-9548; fords.org
