Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground
Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield
Written by Richard Hellesen, directed by Peter Ellenstein
“If we expected the world to give freedom to all, we couldn’t just give freedom to some.”
We sometimes forget what a word or phrase means. Tour de force is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as “an achievement or performance that shows great skill and attracts admiration; a technical/musical/political tour de force.” We take for granted that a solo performer is bound to deliver such a performance. It doesn’t always happen, but this week the ultimate living reality of it is on display at the Boyd-Quinson Theater in Pittsfield, as John Rubinstein plays Dwight David (Ike) Eisenhower, a retired general and former president of the United States. It is a few years post-presidency, and the man and his wife are living on their farm in Gettysburg. He is dictating his memoir and has just been trashed by 75 scholars as the 22nd most important U.S. President, out of a total of 39. The man is outraged—in a gentle yet manic way.
This is a man who knows exactly who he is and what he expects. If he doesn’t get what is his by right, he goes and gets it anyway. He is a force, not a man, and Rubinstein, in his very gentle way, manages to show us the man as he was. Not that he looks like Ike, or sounds like Ike; he just becomes Ike as we imagine him to have been. For two hours, alone on the stage, he brings the president, the general, the man to life, and we can believe he is who he says he is. This is a unique talent, and we are fortunate to have this opportunity to witness long-dead history come to life on our hometown stage. I could go on, enraptured, for pages on this single subject, but if you haven’t gotten the picture by now, there is nothing more I can say about it that will change things.
This original play was written by Richard Hellesen, who has written more than two dozen other plays including a much-produced version of Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol.” The play premiered in New York City in 2013 starring John Rubinstein, who has stayed with it ever since. Director Peter Ellenstein has taken the very real material Hellesen wrote and given it the smack of real life. We are in Eisenhower’s home among his possessions and enduring his reminiscences in real time. It has a dynamic that makes the intermission feel like a mistake, for we don’t want to leave the man and his very youthful, fertile mind for a second.
The fascinating set by Michael Deegan—which is often awash with images, projections designed by Joe Huppert—keeps Eisenhower’s mind and his memories special. Instead of seeming intrusive, they take on their own reality as we are allowed to see into Ike’s memory. Rubinstein’s costume, designed by Sarah G. Conly, is simple and ideal for the man. This is a one-man show that I actually like (my readers know I am not in favor of solo plays) and recommend on every level. It provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with two men we rarely ever see and to learn what each one can bring to our lives. There are even a few comments that hit home politically in the very sketchy era we live in now. This play is special. That is all.
“Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground” plays at the Barrington Stage Company’s Boyd-Quinson Theater, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA, through June 8. For information and tickets, visit Barrington Stage Company’s website or call (413) 236-8888.
