Hail to the GriefBy Tom Wachunas I amhe as you are he as you are me / And we are all together/See how they run likepigs from a gun/See how they fly/ I’m crying – from “I Am the Walrus”by John Lennon and Paul McCartney The etymology ofthe English word assassin is afascinating one, derived from the Arabic hashishiyyn,meaning “hashish users.” During the time of the Crusades, a fanaticalMuslim sect was notorious for killing enemy leaders after working themselvesinto a frenzy brought on by ingesting hashish. And so it is thatthe one-act musical, Assassins,currently playing at Canton’s Players Guild Theatre, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, probes the intentionsand motivations of nine disillusioned and deluded individuals who eitherattempted or succeeded in killing a U.S President. One might say that theirfrenzy-inducing drug of choice wasn’t hashish, but rather their dangerouslyfestering resentments after their desires for societal inclusion, attention, orcelebrity had been denied. Sound familiar? As one of the show’s songs puts it,"There's another national anthem, folks, for those who never win... We'rethe other national anthem, folks, the ones who can't get in..." It’s athin line indeed between the American Dream and American Scream, between “AllLives Matter” and “All Lives Shattered.” The narrative is atime warp that plucks these individuals (some more infamous than others) fromhistory and places them all together in a surrealistic carnival setting,complete with a grimy shooting gallery (scenic design by Joshua Erichsen),adorned with targets bearing a President’s face. Director Jonathan Tisevichclearly has an uncanny gift for unpacking and fleshing out the characters’ challengingand complex strata of emotional and psychological nuance. And in turn, it’s theastonishingly gifted cast members, both as singers and actors, who altogethertransform what could have been merely absurd or toxic cartoons into authenticand impactful human presences. Their visceral, in-your-face energy is all themore augmented by the black-box surrounds of the Guild’s arena theater. Micah Harvey bringssinister relish to his role of the carnival proprietor - a Mephistopheleanhuckster who provides guns and temptations to his customers. Joe Halladey IIIdoubles as the “Balladeer” and, late in the proceedings, the John F. Kennedyassassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. As the former, he’s a crooning narrator whoarticulates Sondheim’s lyrical verbosity with practically magical ease, oftenmocking the deviant thoughts and actions of the other characters. As Oswald,he’s an arresting figure, flummoxed and haunted by the pleas of the otherassassins to join their “family.” Vincent Sisleyplays Guiseppe Zangara, who attempted to kill FDR in 1933. Jacob Sustersicplays Leon Czolgosz, who killed William McKinley in 1901. Both performersinvest their performances with palpable gravitas, delivering their rants andgrievances with convincing accents (Italian and Polish, respectively). Craig Joseph deftlypaints an edgy portrait of optimistic clownishness with a brooding underside inhis colorful role of Charles Guiteau, who shot James Garfield in 1881. As JohnWilkes Booth, Jimmy Ferko is a particularly magnetic presence, and for all ofhis character’s arrogance, oddly likeable. Corey Paulus is truly scary as Samuel Byck, who intended tokill Richard Nixon in 1974. Clad in a tattered Santa costume, he’s at firstutterly hilarious in a dark sort of way, bellowing all manner of foul-mothed(and full-mouthed) insults and complaints which relentlessly escalate intounfettered rage. Speaking of darkhilarity, Julie Connair’s portrayal of Sara Jane Moore, who tried to killGerald Ford in 1975, borders on comic genius. One of the most memorablepassages of the evening transpires when she shares a scene with Taylor MarieScott, playing “Squeaky” Fromme, another would-be Ford assassin who wasobsessed with Charles Manson. Scott’s performance is a chilling look at insaneidol worship. Russell Jones is similarly commanding in his role of John HinkleyJr., who wanted to impress his imagined lover (Jody Foster) by shooting RonaldReagan in 1981. Through it all, theexcellent off-stage orchestra conducted by Steve Parsons plays, often verysoftly, an intriguing, almost ghostly montage of period-style tunes reminiscentof ragtime, old-timey folk songs, or circus marches. Here then is achallenging tragicomedy, a startling parade – at once bleak, vulgar, anduncomfortably funny - of wounded or hopelessly corrupted psyches. And with nointermission, it seemed to me at one point an agonizingly long parade. But on further reflection, an intermission might wellhave broken the intensity necessary to let these disturbing characters andtheir twisted stories resonate beyond their own times and thus evoke somethingmuch more urgent and timely. So I don’t thinkthis work is just about the horrificconsequences of the moral/psychological aberrations that triggered a handful ofmurderous individuals from America’s past. What makes it still stand as anelectrifying work of theatre art is inhow it becomes a compelling indictment of the terrible spiritual poverty of notonly our current American culture, but of the global human condition as well. We have met theenemy… With a broken moral compass, when we’re not running about in aimless panic, we’re flyingupside down. Meanwhile the walrus, as it were, sits in our living rooms. We’recrying. Goo–goo-g’joob. Assassins, at Canton Players Guild’sWilliam G. Fry Theatre, 1001 Market Avenue N., Canton, Ohio / Shows THROUGHSEPTEMBER 18 – Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. / TICKETS $27for adults, $19 for ages 17 and under, $24 for seniors / Order at www.playersguildtheatre.com or call 330.453.7617 For othercommentaries by Tom Wachunas on the arts in the Canton area, please visit hisblog, ARTWACH, at www.artwach.blogspot.com