After a hokey intro, Jesse Waldinger's melodrama morphs into gripping theater. Set in Atlanta in 1913, the play revolves around the historic trial of Leo Frank Michael Thauer, a Jewish factory manager wrongfully convicted and finally lynched -- for the murder of a young female worker in his employ.
Anti-Semitic slurs, smarmy sexual innuendo and perjured testimony substituted for concrete evidence during the trial. The script, which relays events with cartoonish clarity, benefits from Scott Mlodzinski sharply focused direction and an array of skilled and colorful performances among the 19-person ensemble.
At its forefront is Dick DeCoit's prosecutor, a man of icy venom. He's pitted against Charles Hoyes' savvy but outflanked defense attorney, whose transformation from lukewarm public defender to outraged advocate gauges the measure of our own horror at the proceedings.
