Fabrefaction Theatre’s ‘Assassins’ hits the bull’s-eye
The dark, occasionally comic musical uses murderers and wannabes to examine the dark side of the American dream.
- Courtesy of Fabrefaction Theatre Company
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Critics often like to describe ambitious plays, movies and other art forms as presenting “the dark side of the American dream,” often to read more thematic meaning than, say, a gangster film can support. Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical Assassins genuinely earns the label, however, as it examines some uncomfortable implications of American idealism through the example of the men and women who have attempted to kill U.S. presidents.
“Everybody’s got the right to be happy,” announces a creepy ringmaster figure (Shane Desmond) in the opening number of Fabrefaction Theatre Company’s haunting production. But what if the thing will make you happy is to avenge the South for the Civil War, or win the affections of a murderous cult leader? The title characters of Assassins come across as a rogue’s gallery of historical losers who see violence as a way of achieving their dreams. To the extent that they’re now all in the history books, whether as villains or footnotes, suggests they succeeded at least partially.