A Free Man of Color and The Coward Cannonball Into 18th-Century History

T. Charles Erickson

Almost as big as the Louisiana Purchase itself: A Free Man of Color

Details

A Free Man of Color
By John Guare
Vivian Beaumont Theater
Lincoln Center
212-239-6200, lct.org

The Coward
By Nick Jones
LCT3 @ The Duke on 42nd Street
229 West 42nd Street
212-239-6200, lct.org

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More About

• John Guare
• Jeffrey Wright
• Jacques Cornet
• Theatrical Plays
• Theater

Sam Gold's production struggles, unrewardingly, to steer a middle course between total seriousness and blatant SNL spoof; the largely excellent cast offers gratifying help, as do Gabriel Berry's lush costumes, elegantly toeing the fine line where just enough slides toward too much. Ability, ambition, and a passion to say something make Jones welcome. Whether less lavish treatment might have helped him, or Guare, sort out his intentions more lucidly is a different, perhaps more troubling, matter.