Among its many offerings this season, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival produces the world premiere of Ghost Light. Despite its ethereal title, Ghost Light is rooted in stark reality. Specifically, it deals with the very real murder of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk, the supervisor of the city's mostly gay Castro district.
Interestingly, in the 30 years since that dreadful day, the public seems to have deified Harvey Milk and "all but forgotten about Moscone," according to the show's creators. Despite Moscone being the principal target of the shooting, observers seem to have attributed some of gay-rights champion Moscone's successes to Harvey Milk. Seeking to right this injustice is Moscone's son, Jonathan Moscone, the play's co-creator and director. He was only 14 when his father died. Now, years later, Moscone tries to capture the grief, the anger and the family's isolation that followed the tragedy.
The play does not vilify Harvey Milk in any way, but his name rarely is mentioned. This is a tale of the relationship between a son and his father. As suggested in the title, there are a number of "ghosts" in this play, including those of Jonathan's father and his grandfather. (Ghost Light is the theatrical term for the bare light bulb and lamp left onstage after an evening's performance. )
In one heartbreaking and very real sequence, an older Jonathan prepares to meet a potential partner in a gay bar. He has had an "internet relationship" with Basil (Ted Deasy) for many months. The meeting turns sour when Moscone realizes that this person is more interested in his family history than in him. He finds it "creepy" that the potential lover visits the grave of his dead father. He quickly exits. So go many of the relationships in Moscone's life.
The play opens in the early days of the murder's aftermath. An unseen psychiatrist is quizzing a young Moscone about his reaction to his father's death. Moscone (Tyler James Myers) keeps his head down and mumbles his answers. His reaction is typical for a 14-year-old boy. However, this disaffected air appears time and time again, wrecking potential friendships and, later, career choices. A theatrical director, Jonathan is obsessed with the main character in Hamlet.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival is producing Ghost Light (with co-producer Berkeley Repertory Theater) as part of its series on exploring chapters in American history. It is always exciting to see Oregon Shakespeare launch a new play, since it has the resources (and a built-in audience) to give it a boost. However, the show's non-lineal approach may throw some audiences off-guard. Others may find elements repetitive. Although the coming together of all the Moscone characters at the end of the play has been done before, it still has some punch. But are non-San Franciscans really going to get much out of this play? Probably not. This comment does not in any way reflect negatively on the cast, who perform brilliantly. The actors include Peter Frechette, as a film director who befriends the young Moscone; Robynn Rodriguez as Jon's best friend; Bill Geisslinger, who appears in Jon's dreams as a prison guard who was also, in real life, his grandfather; and Derrick Lee Weeden as Mister, an otherworldly character who tries to explain events to Jon in his dreams.
The set is minimal, but the sound and lighting effects are much stronger elements to this production. Ghost Light may not be a life-altering drama, but it is certainly worth a look especially for those who lived in San Francisco during that period.
