Show: 17
Category:
By: Wheeler in the Sky
Created by: Andrew Erskine Wheeler
Location: Southern Theater
Summary: General Custer is stuck in purgatory and lamenting not being included in the "Garden of American Heroes" being built for America's 250th birthday next year (that's a real thing).
Highlights: This is the third of Andrew's original solo historical pieces that I've seen, and like 2019 Booth's Ghost and 2022's WHOOSH! (a revised version of which is part of History Theatre's upcoming season) it's thoroughly researched, thoughtfully constructed, incredibly relevant to our current times, and performed with 100% commitment. All of these works examine controversial figures from America's history, and don't ask us to sympathize with them, but maybe perhaps understand how they came to be and how that's paralleled in things we're seeing happening today. We have to understand our history in order to not repeat it, and that's what this show does for Custer. To try to describe this show would not do it justice, it feels like a fever dream through this particular segment of American History. As Custer, Andrew speaks directly the audience, running through the aisles, disappointed in his exclusion from the Garden ("how bad do you have to be to be rejected by this administration?!"). He comes out dressed in Custer's full regalia, gradually shedding layers and arranging them on the floor, like the remnants of a life. This Custer does not apologize or ask for our forgiveness; he admits that he was motivated not by any sense of duty to his country, but by the love of killing. It's harsh and brutal, and endlessly captivating. As usual Andrew's prop work is detailed and thoughtful, with a saber, a spear, a wig head that holds those flowing blond locks. The lighting is almost like a character in and of itself, sometimes garishly bright, sometimes flashing, sometimes soft, Custer reacting to each change. The story starts and ends with his death in battle, and leaves us disturbed and questioning just what is an American Hero?
