THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608160071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: 50 lines
IN MAY 1925, lawyer Clarence Darrow spoke at the Mosque auditorium in Richmond. One observer wrote that ``Richmond will never be the same until Darrow leaves. Even then, it may be marked for life.''
It was said that the famed defense lawyer won cases by frightening jurors more than he cajoled them.
Little of this bold, irascible side of the notorious character can be discerned from the rather timid, affable and folksy character currently on the stage at the Actors' Theater's still-new Pembroke Mall home.
Gary Welch, who has the sole role in this one-man show, faces an awesome challenge. If Olympic divers should be judged by degree of difficulty, so should actors. If so, perhaps Welch can be given points for bravery, if little else.
Darrow was, of course, the lawyer who argued the Scopes evolution trial, boldly asking William Jennings Bryan: ``Who was Cain's wife?'' and ``Who did Noah throw the rope to when he docked the ark?'' He defended rich boys Leopold and Loeb in a case that long predated the Menendez brothers. With the O.J. case sparking interest in the justice system, perhaps it is a ripe time for a revival of ``Clarence Darrow,'' directed here by Frank McCaffery.
The pacing, however, is much too slow and Welch seems to think he is portraying someone like Mark Twain rather than Clarence Darrow. In any case, this Darrow is depicted as a defender of the common man; he is almost deified. We see little of the conniver, the legal fox, the crafty, threatening force.
The part has been played on Broadway by Henry Fonda who, too, was a bit gentlemanly for the persona. Closer, at least to our imagination of what the lawyer was like, would be Orson Welles in the movie ``Compulsion'' or Spencer Tracy's performance in ``Inherit the Wind.''
The lighting, by David Scott, manages to suggest that there are other forces present - even though the witness chair does flash off-cue.
Ironically, the evening begins with a recorded version of ``The Sound of Silence.'' To the contrary, the Darrow character at one point comments that ``Most lawyers, including myself, tend to say more than is necessary.'' ILLUSTRATION: THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Clarence Darrow,'' the drama by David W. Rintels
Where: The Actors' Theater in Pembroke Mall, Virginia Beach
Who: Starring Gary Welch, directed by Frank McCaffery
When: Tonight at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m., through Aug. 25
Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens, military and
students, $5 for children
Call: 557-0397 by CNB