WITH THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS WORLD PREMIERE, LOCALLY-PRODUCED, AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTION APPROACHING, ESC FOUNDER DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON SHARES NOTES ON THE 1998 PEGASUS PLAYERS' STAGING OF PLAYWRIGHT ROBERT MYERS' "THE LYNCHING OF LEO FRANK"!
"The Lynching of Leo Frank takes off from a case history that, even in bare factual outline, is compelling enough... Myers uses documents of the time and his own mix of composite characters to show that this case was filled with layer after layer of deep-rooted prejudice. [It] bristles with questions that present a challenging, complex view of the crime." -- Richard Christensen, The Chicago Tribune, November 1998.
"In a defining moment, a black professor of history, played with smoldering but controlled outrage by Darryl Maximilian Robinson, explains to a Jewish merchant ( Simon ) the realities of race hatred in Georgia."-- Kevin P. Murphy, "'Lynching' shows humanity at it's worst," The Times of Northwest Indiana, Friday, November 27, 1998.
"And Andy Simon and Darryl Maximilian Robinson engage in a fictional ( but possible ) dialogue between a Jewish merchant and a black professor that displays the possibilities of how the South might have evolved if its white power structure had made different choices."-- Andrew Patner, "The Lynching of Leo Frank," The Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday November 19, 1998.
Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago Founder Darryl Maximilian Robinson experienced one of the finest supporting roles of his nearly five-decade-plus stage career when he was cast by gifted Director Jonathan Wilson in the role of The Professor ( a black academician of history ) in the 1998 Pegasus Players of Chicago's world premiere production of playwright Robert Myers' "THE LYNCHING OF LEO FRANK," a dramatic recreation onstage of one of the worst incidents of injustice, religious bigotry and racial hatred in American History.
The production was mounted at The O'Rourke Center For The Performing Arts In The Windy City, it earned fine notices, and playwright Myers would go on to win a 1999 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award for Outstanding New Work.
Darryl Maximilian Robinson was pleased and proud to create the role of The Black Professor of History in this world premiere production.
Darryl Maximilian Robinson had received both a 1997 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award for Outstanding Actor In A Principal Role In A Play and a 1997 Chicago Black Theatre Alliance / Ira Aldridge Award nomination for Best Leading Actor In A Play the year before for his critically-praised performance as Sam Semela in The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago revival staging of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold And The Boys" mounted at The Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in The Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Cast as a Member of Director Wilson's talented Ensemble in "The Lynching of Leo Frank," he was one of several actors to assist in telling the tragic story of The Leo Frank Case.
He auditioned for and accepted the small role of The Professor because he firmly and passionately believed in what this character had to say in Myers' script in a moment in the second act that came to be known as "The Shoes Scene," a fictionalized moment in the play that consists of the only truly humane and intelligent conversation between a Black character and a Jewish character in the entire drama.
The 1998 production image below features talented actors Elizabeth Ledo as the loyal and loving Mrs. Frank and Mitchell Fain in the title role of the doomed Jewish businessman and her husband, Leo Frank.
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