REVIEW: House Calls-The Strange Case of Dr. Gale is a Fine Follow-up to Last Week's Composure at Trustus Theatre

In the second of Trustus Theatre’s True Crime Rep series, the new play, House Calls—The Strange Tale of Dr. Gale by Charlie Finesilver, opened on Thursday night, August 18th. Directed by Ginny Ives, House Calls is the story of Dr. Ian Gale, an ostensibly successful psychiatrist who, in the 1970s, lived and worked in Columbia, SC by day, but by night burglarized the homes of 100 or more of his fellow Soda Citizens. Over the course of almost a decade, Gale, who was also an attorney and author, stole valuables amounting in worth to a half a million dollars, hiding the treasure away in a locked room in his home. He was finally caught and convicted in 1979 and served 15 years in prison. In 2017 and at 79-years-old, Gale shot himself in the head and set his home afire, taking many secrets and explanations to his grave.

Finesilver became fascinated with the story upon reading about Gale’s death in the newspaper and developed his own interpretation of contributing events into the original stage play which, like last week’s Composure by Jason Stokes, was intended to be staged in August 2020, before Covid shut the theatre down for health reasons.

Although it was originally intended to be directed by Lindsay Rae Taylor, Ginny Ives stepped in as director for the premiere of the show. Ives is a graduate of USC Aiken and has been a company member at Trustus since 2019.

Jeff Driggers was cast in the part of Dr. Ian Gale at the request of the playwright who had seen Driggers perform in another show and thought him an excellent choice for the part. Driggers, whose background lies primarily in Shakespearean roles, physically plays a bit young for the part although he does strive to create a mature presence that he consistently maintains throughout the play. Driggers is a lot on the stage, and we would have liked to have seen just a bit more variation in his character, more nuance to balance the bigness of his vocal expression, given that he is on stage almost constantly. Even so, Driggers shows fidelity to his interpretation of the part throughout his lengthy stage time.

Driggers is primarily cast against veteran actor Chris Cockrell (Inspector Anderson), one of Columbia’s most accomplished performers, and Deon Turner (Inspector Cummins), both of whom skillfully embody the roles of 1970s era gumshoes with finesse. It was also a pleasure to see Clark Wallace on the stage in the role of Solicitor Egan, reminding audiences of how much this experienced actor brings to a project.

Both Jordan Postal (Stacey) and Kathleen Pennyway (Jodi) gave astute and complex performances which promise more to come from both young women. And Sheldon Paschal, in the role of Gale’s memory of his mother (Vera) was decidedly creepy and intimidating.

Sharing the foundation of a set with last week’s premiere, Composure, once again we have Danny Harrington to thank for a set that is both functional and architecturally appealing. Sound and lights were fine and costuming by Andie Nicks was judiciously designed and era appropriate.

While in all likelihood Finesilver thoroughly researched the subject matter, a substantial part of the story was still conjecture by necessity and at the discretion of the playwright’s imagination in terms of what direction it would go. It would be interesting to know whether there were clues that led the author to point fingers at Gale’s mother Vera, so menacingly portrayed by Paschal, for the doctor’s mental instability or whether the playwright simply adhered to the old Freudian trope of blaming the mother whenever a son failed.  In a hearing that resulted in the revoking of his medical license it was noted that Gale prescribed amphetamines for a romantic interest as well as himself, had multiple false IDs, and exhibited other behaviors that indicated a sociopathic if not psychopathic  personality disorder. Ideally the conflict depicted in the action would have led the audience to additional possible explanations for the protagonist’s mental affliction, outside that of a domineering mother.

Certainly, like all new projects, House Calls would benefit from additional workshopping to sort out the possibilities for plot direction, and the pacing could be increased and the motivation of the lead actor finetuned. Compared to last week’s premiere by Stokes, House Calls may be less sophisticated in its storytelling methodology but, like its series companion Composure, which continues to run alongside it until August 27th, both have exceedingly strong bones and are triumphs for Midlands’s area theatre arts in that they were skillfully presented before enthusiastic audiences by accomplished casts and crews in a professional theatre.

Congratulations once again to the playwrights, casts, and crews for both performances and to Trustus theatre for trusting Columbia audiences to support new theatre art by talented local playwrights.

REVIEW: COMPOSURE at Trustus Theatre, Written and Directed by Jason Stokes

“Composure brings to light major issues that, after one-hundred and nineteen years, are still prevalent today. Fact versus interpretation of fact, truth versus bias, opinion-based reporting, righteous versus self-righteous, and the checks and balances between the press and the government…” - Jason Stokes, Playwright

Pictured Clint Poston as James Tillman (left) and Jon Whit McClinton as N. G. Gonzales (right)

It’s been a long time coming for Jason Stokes, writer and director of the play Composure, which premiered Thursday night at Trustus Theatre. The inkling of the idea for presenting this story was born almost 20 years ago when Stokes first learned about this particularly sordid excerpt from South Carolina history that, in 1903, finds a white supremacist lieutenant governor, James Tillman, murdering in broad daylight N.G. Gonzales, journalist and co-founder of The State Newspaper, then walking away a free man. Stokes first developed the story as a screenplay before transforming it for the stage. It was scheduled to be premiered pre-Covid in cooperation with Chad Henderson, former artistic director of Trustus, along with Charlie Finesilver’s original production of House Calls, which premieres August 18th.

A larger story to be told than the one incident of the murder, Stokes does an impressive job of integrating the lead-up and aftermath of the shooting and trial into two acts. In fact, the structure of the play is highly sophisticated as the events and dialogue jump logically across place and time in order to explain not just most efficiently and dramatically the events, but the contributing causes of the events that took place.

The cast is, for the most part, stellar, with some of the finest actors Columbia has to offer on the stage in support of their colleague. It was a treat to see such accomplished actors as Hunter Boyle in the commanding role of Pitchfork Ben Tillman, Stan Gardner as attorney Patrick Nelson, G. Scott Wild as attorney William Thurmond, Kevin Bush as journalist J.A. Hoyt, and Terrance Henderson as Ambrose Gonzales, brother to murder victim N.G. Gonzales. Libby Campbell Turner displayed remarkable theatrical chops in her multiple cross-gendered roles as C.J. Terrel and additional characters, often changing characters on a dime just by adjusting the fit of her tie and her own composure. Her facial features and posture reminded the audience that she is a cast of characters unto herself. And Katie Leitner, as the long-suffering wife of the murderer, displayed a grace and elegance even when called upon to deliver the rare mellow-dramatic line. It was great, too, seeing Nate Herring back on the Trustus stage as George Lagare.

We were surprised, however, by some of the casting decisions.

With powerhouse artists like Bush, Wild, and Gardner on board, why were some of the most demanding roles assigned to some of the weaker actors on the team? As James Tillman, Clint Poston, though a fine supporting actor, was saddled with an incredibly challenging role, a role that seems made for the likes of G. Scott Wild who could so easily slide into the character of the blustery and entitled white Southern fascist Tillman must have been. Poston doesn’t seem to have a handle on how deluded and despicable Tillman was, sometimes coming off as somewhat sympathetic and misunderstood.

And while Brandon Martin at times rises to the level of contemptibility of future SC Governor and Senator Coleman Blease, a man who embraced white supremacy and lynching and violently opposed miscegenation, his physical appearance, posture, and contemporary hairstyle, as well as his time spent on stage when not speaking, make it difficult to believe him as the robust character of Cole Blease. Stan Gardner, on the other hand, would have soared in this role. (Since writing this, we have learned that Mr. Martin joined the cast at a late date to take the place of Stann Gwynn, an artist inordinately well suited to take on the role of Cole Blease. Jasper wishes the best both to Mr. Martin as he acclimates to the role and to Mr. Gwynn as he fully recovers from his medical procedure.)

But the most poorly cast actor, in a slate of otherwise excellent theatrical artists, was Jon Whit McClinton in the critical role of N.G. Gonzales. While McClinton was able to manage the side-role of judge most of the time, though he did break character and snicker at his own mistake at one point, he was out of his element among the artists with whom he shared the stage. The particularly jarring reality is that McClinton played opposite Terrance Henderson as Ambrose Gonzales in the majority of his scenes. Henderson’s stage presence, professionalism, and experience would have delivered a far more serious, and certainly less giddy, character than McClinton was able to provide.

We’re not sure whether Stokes conceptualized the set or if this was the singular purview of veteran scenic designer Danny Harrington, whose work has been a gift to most if not all theatre stages in the Columbia area, but the set for Composure, though problematic for the actors in places (Damn those pipes!), is a work of art itself. A play as complex as Composure could have required a multitude of scene changes. But Harrington’s innovative design—and the flexibility of the actors—allows for one large multi-use set that presents as something quite beautiful from the audience.

With a cast this size costuming can be a financial challenge and for the most part costume designer Andie Nicks does a fine job and, in some cases—like Katie Leitner’s elegant black and white skirted pants ensemble—an exceptional job. If financially possible, more consistency of style would be appreciated, too, particularly when it comes to pleats and cuffs for the gentlemen’s pants, hats vs. no hats, and the standard three button coat of the turn of the 20th century. And a good fit, no matter what the wardrobe, is ideal. Similarly, standardized hairstyles for men invite no comparison whereas the juxtaposition of a contemporary style, like that of Mr. Martin’s, stands out and begs notice, disrupting the flow of the play.

While kicking off the sound and lights posed a problem on Friday night, which Stokes managed with grace and humor, the lighting design by Teddy Palmer was helpful in guiding the audience’s attention to a stage in which, at times, as many as three scenes moved from frozen to active in a matter of seconds. In the best of all possible worlds (and budgets!) more intense spotlights would have been available, but in this world, this lighting worked fine. Background sounds by Jason Stokes were appropriate and complementary, with music added in places to enhance the setting but not overwhelm it.

Overall, it was a delight to see the vision of local multi-talented theatre artist and writer Jason Stokes become a reality. This play and its production are important to this community and beyond for a number of reasons.

Kudos to interim artistic director Dewey Scott-Wiley for following through on this project, begun by Stokes and Henderson, which could have fallen by the wayside once Covid forced its delay. We see far too little new stage work from an abundance of literary artists in SC and Columbia in particular. But local theatre and literary artists will continue to produce new art if given the opportunity to see it come to fruition, as Composure has. South Carolina and South Carolina playwrights have fascinating—and sometimes barely believable—stories to share, such as this story and that of Dr Ian Gale in next week’s premiere of House Calls: The Strange Tale of Dr. Gale.

Sadly, we are not as far removed from the issues and behavior depicted in Composure as we would like to think—we’re simply better at subterfuge. As Stokes writes in his playbill notes, “Composure brings to light major issues that, after one-hundred and nineteen years, are still prevalent today. Fact versus interpretation of fact, truth versus bias, opinion-based reporting, righteous versus self-righteous, and the checks and balances between the press and the government. Both are vital to American existence, both must keep careful watch on the other; but when these powerful forces become more self-aggrandizing entities than protectors of the people they serve, the American existence is lost.”

The question now is What’s next for Composure? Without question, the play should live on, possibly with a shorter first act, possibly continuing the model of more actors performing multiple roles to condense the cast. Some degree of workshopping might be helpful, but not a lot. This project strikes us as a good candidate for festivals. It’s a fascinating story that despite the passage of more than a hundred years still resonates and begs the same questions today that it did in 1903.

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Composure, a new play written and directed by Jason Stokes.

The Jasper Project