Starring Gavin Lawrence, Jane Welch, Kelly Taffe and William McNulty. Directed by Clinton Turner Davis. Part of the 29th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Continues through April 9. For tickets or more info, call 584-1205 or visit www.ActorsTheatre.org.
“Pure Confidence,” the fifth selection of Actors Theatre’s Humana Festival, is pure enjoyment. From the opening sounds of “Call to the Post” and Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races,” it is immediately possible to slide into Carlyle Brown’s tale of a slave with the ability to buy his own freedom.
Surely a slave buying freedom in the antebellum South was unique. But Simon Cato (Gavin Lawrence), a successful jockey, knows his own worth and leverages it to do what most slaves thought impossible — buy his wife’s freedom and chip away at his own price of $5,000.
The scenario is difficult to believe, but Brown is very convincing. He also has help from the talented Lawrence and William McNulty, who portrays Simon’s owner. McNulty is relaxed and confident as Col. Johnson; as is Jane Welch, who portrays Johnson’s wife, Mattie.
Johnson and Mattie are benevolent slave owners who know their gentrified life is something they cannot and will not change. Instead, they give Simon everything he wants — except freedom. The same benevolence is shown to Mattie’s slave, Caroline (an excellent Kelly Taffe), when Simon asks to buy and marry her.
The image of Lawrence with chest out, shoulders and head up, a whip tucked under one arm and a garland of yellow roses around his neck is most memorable, and it is from this stance that Simon takes on his slavery. He is cocky, bravely wears a suit and top hat and recklessly berates rich horse owners. His success insulates him from punishment and makes him famous — until he is trampled during a race on the eve of the Civil War.
Fast forward 15 years. Simon has traded his silks for a bellhop’s uniform. He shuttles hotel luggage while Caroline washes clothes. Here, Brown’s play bumps the inside rail. By skipping the war, Brown must quickly relate 15 years of details. This occurs when an annoying reporter (Andy Prosky) finds Simon and requests an interview — an easy device to fill the gap, but there is a good deal of exposition.
The reporter arranges a reunion between former masters and their slaves. Brown recovers as he tackles Caroline and Mattie’s delicate reunion. Mattie regarded Caroline as a friend, but her heart appears to break when Caroline tearfully reminds her, “You owned me.” Simon and Johnson’s reunion is smoother and ends with an offer for Simon to run Johnson’s stables.
From my vantage point, it seems one play in each Humana Festival is given the royal treatment. Last year it was “The Ruby Sunrise,” and “Omnium-Gatherum” two years ago. Now “Pure Confidence” is in the winner’s circle. Paul Owen’s sets — a stable, a plush hotel lobby and a plantation veranda — rotate and slide across the stage in the Pamela Brown Auditorium. Lorraine Venberg’s costumes, especially Welch’s hoopskirts large enough for a child’s playhouse, are first-rate. Matt Callahan’s sounds of horse races fill the theater. All of this and Clinton Turner Davis’ topnotch directing tab “Pure Confidence” as the odds-on favorite of this year’s festival.
