Trick the Devil

by Steve Cohen

The life and death of blues composer Robert Johnson are highly dramatic, and playwright Bill Harris has written an effective play around them called Trick the Devil. Johnson is considered one of the most influential of all bluesmen, and his songs have been recorded by Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. His complete original recordings were reissued last year by Sony. Johnson was born in Mississippi in 1911 and died there under mysterious circumstances in 1938. Rumors concerning Johnson’s death include stabbing, poison and the devil catching up with him. Some say that Johnson messed with the wrong man’s woman and was murdered by poison placed in his whiskey. Playwright Harris picks one of these scenarios and, with Ed Smith’s direction, stages it convincingly.

Even when he was alive, Johnson was the object of rumors that he met the devil at a crossroads and sold his soul in exchange for superhuman talent. Johnson encouraged those rumors when he wrote songs named "Cross Road Blues" and "Me and the Devil."

Freedom Theatre's production is a straight play with six songs played and sung in context. Lindsay Smiling makes a charismatic Johnson, handsome and well-built, more so than the real Johnson. (To digress, why do good-looking actors such as Charlize Theron feel the need to make themselves look exactly like their characters?) Smiling's sexual attractiveness sets off the action that leads to his character's death that night. He is impressive as he shows Johnson's growing awareness of his poetic ability.

Actress Zuhairah is a spirited Georgia. She introduces herself as the owner of "Georgia Mayberry's Colored Jook Joint. I'm Georgia." Johnson flirtatiously replies, "I'm colored." Jook joints, by the way, were similar to nightclubs, and eventually lent its name to the automatic, coin-operated music machines that were introduced there.

A white literature professor, Kimbrough, comes searching for the Johnson he's discovered on records. He is constantly quoting Shakespeare, making the argument that Johnson's lyrics are as rich in metaphor as the Bard's. Johnson's dialogue is blunt and humorous: "You're as full of shit as a year-old privy." The biggest flaw in the production is David Dallas' attempt at a white Southern accent. It's hard to enjoy his lines when you can't understand the words. Worse yet, the affected accent makes his character laughable instead of the dramatic foil that it could be.

Donovan Hagins plays the joint's blind pianist who talks of witchcraft in riddles reminiscent of Macbeth's witches. Mel Donaldson is strong as Georgia's menacing husband.

Trick the Devil

Through March 7, Freedom Theatre, 1346 N. Broad St., 866-314-3733

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