Theater company streams ‘Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade’
There’s something both wistful and foreboding about the superlative production of “Kennedy: Bobby’s Last Crusade” now streaming on the Jewel Theatre Company website, through Nov. 8.
In fact, both of these adjectives are apparent from the first few minutes of the 95-minute play which was written by David Arrow who also plays its only character, Bobby Kennedy.
As directed by Eric Nightengale, “Kennedy” is a vibrant, electrifying story chock-full of Robert Kennedy’s own words, culled from his many campaign speeches and with occasional flashes of that famous self-deprecating humor.
The most unexpected thing about “Kennedy” is that it comes close to feeling as if you’re sitting in the audience in Colligan Theater at the Tannery Arts
Center watching a live production. Jewel filmed the show on its stage without an audience. The background is strewn with confetti, straw hats, balloons, “KENNEDY” posters, bunting, newspapers and the detritus of a party that’s winding down.
Then there’s the startling facial similarity of Arrow to Bobby. The same nose, the same shy but optimistic smile, and the same unruly hair that always looks as if it’s one day away from needing a haircut. Arrow’s teeth aren’t quite as prominent as Bobby’s, but he has most of his mannerisms down pat.
He also manages a credible “Boston-Irish” accent for many of the words that became associated with the Kennedys, most notably their addition of the letter “r” at the end of some words (“Cubar” instead of “Cuba”), yet without an “r” in other words ( like “wahhd” for “world”). Arrow himself describes the accent as “the Kennedy accent.”
Observing Arrow offer up parts of so many of Bobby’s campaign speeches gives the audience the opportunity to see him emerge from the shadow of his big brother and grow into not only his own man, but to also find the reasons why he wanted to become president. He had never realized that so many people were struggling just to have a place to live, to make a decent wage, to raise a family because the Kennedys had always lead a privileged life.
He joined Cesar Chavez in the California fields where hundreds of migrant workers toiled, and it helped him realize how many people were either underrepresented or not represented at all in the America of 1968. In his speeches at college universities in Kansas and Nebraska, he challenged his enthusiastic student audiences to “look around you. There are no Black faces, no American Indians, no Mexican Americans. Only white people.”
This was the time when the country was deeply embroiled in the decadelong Vietnam war conflict. Bobby began to question his student audiences whether they felt it was right for “only poor people to go to war. How can you accept that? I can’t,” he declares.
Then came the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1968. It solidified his commitment to working toward the advancement of civil rights. King’s death hit him hard. He canceled his impending campaign appearances and flew to Memphis, Tennessee, to attend King’s funeral and walk with Jacqueline Kennedy to the gravesite. Powerful stuff.
There’s actually one other person who looms large in “Kennedy.” It’s Ethel Kennedy, whom Bobby unabashedly adored. Arrow shows the soft side of Bobby whenever he talks about his wife. He almost gets giddy whenever he recalls the times she joined him for a few days on the campaign trail, usually with two or three kids in tow as well as their beloved dog, Freckles.
These moments help keep “Kennedy” from being too serious, too overtly “political.” And it makes Bobby more human.
It’s significant that Jewel chose to stream this heady performance at a time when the 2020 election is a scant two weeks away. Those fortunate enough to watch it will come away with a renewed appreciation of the kind of decency, concern for people of all races and ethnicities and genuine caring that marked the presidential candidacy of Bobby Kennedy.
Arrow was previously seen at Jewel as Alan Turing in “Breaking the Code,” and he also was featured in Jewel’s “Enter the Guardsmen” and “Woman in Mind.” He has also performed in Santa Cruz Shakespeare and American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) productions.
A sizeable production crew was assembled for “Kennedy.” James Morgan clearly deserves credit for his authentic scenic design. Video editor Quintin Harris and photography director Diego Cordero provide considerable realism, as does Kathrine R. Mitchell for her projections of crowd scenes, trains, and Kennedy family photos that frequently are displayed above Arrow. Both Ben Scheff’s sound and Miriam Nilofa Crowe’s lighting are fine.
Another important visual element is the rapid typewriter key announcements that appear on screen to indicate where Kennedy is campaigning and when. At times, some of the campaign stops seem repetitious, especially in Iowa and Nebraska.
But it’s an impressive bit of trivia to discover that Kennedy was the only presidential candidate to visit a Native American reservation!