Never The Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story
Early in the 1900s a case out of Chicago that was so heinous that it became known as the trial of the century. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were charged with kidnapping and murdering a 14-year-old boy for the mere reason that they thought they could commit the perfect murder. Adding to the circus was attorney Clarence Darrow, who defended the teenaged murderers. The case, and some of what led the boys to murder, is recounted in the play Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story which opened Thursday night at the Adrienne Theatre.
Set in 1924, Never the Sinner shows audiences the events of the trial while Darrow tries to keep the 18 and 19 year old men from being sent to the gallows. The attorney has the boys plead guilty, but tries to convince a judge they were not fully sane when they committed the murder. Framed around the trial, the play also intercuts scenes between the boys - who were also lovers - that shows both their relationship and motives that led to the murder.
Mauckingbird Theatre Company, who recently did the all-male version of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, offers a stripped down version of the play. But with the court room being the main setting, it’s hard to figure out what set designer Marie Anne Chiment was going for with the five column like sheets staggered across the stage. Possibly it was meant to look like pillars, but it’s not evident if that was her intention.
Aside from the set design, Mauckingbird and director Peter Reynolds does their best with the material given to them. Reynolds has pulled together a stellar cast, which actually rises above the material. The stand out of the cast though is Evan Jonigkeit, an original founder of the theater company. The actor has the meatiest role in the play, as the character of Loeb is the only one to go through a transformation over the course of the narrative. Starting out as a cocky, selfish millionaire playboy Loeb turns into a shell of himself as the reality of the situation settles in.
Jonigkeit is able to display the change effortlessly as the character makes the realization that he is about to lose everything he has ever known and be separated from his friend and lover. The change comes off as both natural and a slow progression leading up the final scene when the reality finally hits home.
Playing opposite of Jonigkeit is Brian Kurtas, who as Nathan Leopold balances between being a meek academic to an overly cocky criminal. The actor plays both sides as cold and somewhat calculating, despite his character not being the brains of the operation. While mostly being able to keep up with his co-star, the role of Leopold is less meaty and requires less heavy lifting which allows the actor to narrow in on his vision of the character and how to properly portray the young killer.
The narrative of the play is disjointed as it is told mostly through flashbacks. Written by John Logan, who later went on to be nominated twice for his screenplays, it’s obvious from watching the narrative that this was his first attempt at being a playwright. The flashback format doesn’t always work, possibly because of the sparse stage dressing but it feels to be an actual problem with the script itself. There isn’t always a rhythm to the flashbacks and their sudden nature can actually make the play seem disjoined at times.
One thing that Logan has incorporated into the play that actually helps to bring the audience into the action is a trio of three newspaper reporters who recite the headlines from their respective papers. Whether these were the actual headlines printed is unknown without doing more research, but the screaming headlines help to get a feeling for the hysteria that was going on in 1924. The citizens of Chicago were calling for blood and the headlines reflect those reactions that also included making Loeb an almost teen idol to some of the teenage girls in the area because of his good looks.
Mauckingbird Theatre Company does a good job mounting Never the Sinner. Despite the flaws in the material and the occasional misstep, the performances are what make the show a must see. The cast as a whole does a great job of helping to get the audience caught up in the hysteria that was going on at the time in Chicago and making the play feel real rather than just a story with no significance to anyone watching it unfold.
Never the Sinner: The Loepold and Loeb Story is playing at the Adrienne Theatre (2030 Samson Street in Center City) Thursday through Sunday until August 30th, with a special industry night performance on August 24th. For more information about tickets, showtimes and directions call the box office at 215-923-8909.
