A Shift of Opinion

By: Darryl Reilly

Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, O. Henry, William Randolph Hearst and Jack London, as depicted by authentically costumed actors are sitting in stillness on wooden chairs during the stirring, picturesque prologue of playwright Vadim Astrakhan’s stimulating, early 20th historical fantasia, A Shift of Opinion, Leo Tolstoy pops up later. Director Joe John Battista’s grand physical staging achieves panoramic scope through arresting tableaus, bracing shadow Imagery and striking stage pictures, with the cast of nine lively actors always perfectly positioned. Mr. Battista’s command of stagecraft is prodigious, a centerstage screen strategically displays illustrative period film clips. There are sly musical cues, such as Jack London introduced by a snippet of Elvis Presley. Battista has brought A Shift of Opinion to the stage with visual flair and emotional depth.

Jacob Schiff (1847-1920) was born in Germany of Jewish descent and emigrated to the United States at the age of 18, after The Civil War. He started his career as a stockbroker, eventually becoming a major and celebrated financier. He espoused the belief that America with its freedoms was the ideal Jewish homeland, and not Palestine as championed by the Zionist leader Theodore Herzl. Due to increasing xenophobia and restrictive U.S. immigration laws, by the end of his life Schiff now supported a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1903, appalled by a brutal antisemitic pogrom in Russia, Schiff made it his life’s mission to do everything in his power to topple the Czar. This incident is the crux of A Shift of Opinion.

The Russian born forensic chemist, Mr. Astrakhan is also a poet, translator, filmmaker, and a rock and roller. He has turned to playwrighting with this ambitious epic, the results are mixed. Astrakhan realizes his gallery of Ragtime-style real-life personages through vivid use of their writings and eyewitness accounts. A Shift of Opinion is structured as a series of short scenes spanning from 1903, to the tumultuousness of W.W. I, and concluding with Schiff’s death in 1920, after The Balfour Declaration had been announced. The clearcut narrative of Schiff’s pursuit of overthrowing the Czar is waylaid by tangential sequences. Schiff’s wily machinations during The Russo-Japanese War are smartly covered, and the Czar’s abdication is mentioned. The Czar’s murder and whether the succeeding Bolsheviks were better for the Jews go unmentioned. The often-witty dialogue at times is bogged down with minutia and speechifying, and the intended inspirational finale is arguably superfluous, sentimental agitprop connecting to the present day. This world premiere production of A Shift of Opinion is presented by the Theater for The New City, and could be viewed as an initial tryout of this viable, complex material. For now, it has its virtues while amiably, but imperfectly running for one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission. The ensemble render their mostly famous roles with zest.

The bearded and serene Michael Donato with his measured voice and stately presence is ingratiating as Jacob Schiff, the show’s centerpiece. Mr. Donato beautifully conveys Schiff’s egotism, complacency and rage, with his strong and thoughtful performance. Luminous Christian Neal’s melodious vocal tones enrich her graceful portrayal of Bella Greene, J.P. Morgan’s Black personal librarian who assists Schiff. Astrakhan’s writing is at its finest in the scenes between Greene and Schiff, they eloquently discuss their personal lives, the world situation, antisemitism and race relations. Combined with Donato and Neal’s lovely rapport, those portions have the quality of an accomplished two-character play.

Dressed in a white suit, thumping a cane and ambling about, the twinkling, gray-maned John Barilla welcomely gives us the garrulous and folksily sardonic Mark Twain we expect. Tottering and shambling around, impish Brian Sheppard is gleefully in alcohol-fueled overdrive as O. Henry. Evoking the 26th President’s storied bluster and stamina, Roger Gonzalez is a riotous, yet serious Theodore Roosevelt. Michael Meth crisply captures William Randolph Hearst’s sternness, playfulness and calculatedness, and he is a marvelously wacky Tolstoy. Shuhei Kinoshita projects smooth nobility as Baron Takahashi, a representative of the Imperial Japanese government. The strapping and personable Andrew Ryan Perry’s Jack London is gregariously All American, his villainous Congressman Albert Johnson is of bellicose malevolence. Sunny Alex Notkin as the head of a Jewish hospital, makes for an articulate chatting partner for Schiff. Mr. Notkin also joltingly appears as a menacing Russian official.

Scenic designers Lytza Colon and Mark Marcante’s assemblage of vintage furnishings and columns, aesthetically represent Schiff’s and Roosevelt’s offices with artful simplicity, allowing the scenes to smoothly flow across years and numerous locales. Brian Park’s energetic lighting design gorgeously creates an optic sense of the past with its shaded brightness, textured dimness and stylized blackouts. Mr. Park’s sound design is of pleasing clarity, composer Ljova Zhurbin’s majestic original score and the effects are pointedly delivered. A multitude of accurate-looking American period garments, Russian peasant and aristocratic outfits, and Japanese finery, are the elements of Natalia Danilova’s smashing costume design.

A Shift of Opinion is a flawed, yet worthy dramatization of pivotal world events, benefiting from its supremely theatrical presentation.

A Shift of Opinion (through January 5th, 2025)
Theater For The New City, 155 First Avenue, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Running time: one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission