Review: Impact and Academy Theatres’ ‘N’ shows the sacrifice we make for our beliefs 

On the surface, Academy Theatre’s and Impact Theatre Atlanta’s N is about the impact a racial epithet has on the career of a Black actor, once called one of the finest thespians of his age, whose 15 minutes of fame is all but forgotten today.

But it’s really about dignity, humanity, what we’re willing and unwilling to trade to succeed and the costs of drawing that line. It’s also about power and how it’s wielded, especially by those who pose as supporters but in the end are users with a more presentable and palatable pitch. 

For the most part, the play succeeds. The three-member cast — Antonio de Graffenreaidt, Jake Soinski and Khaliah Daniels — acquit themselves nicely in the tragedy, based on a play by Adrienne Earle Pender. Working on a sparse set with a kitchen, an office and a clearing in a forest, they lay out the story well, even though the tension is sometimes lacking in the first act. 

With a story about one of the most offensive words in the English language — one that still divides us today — arguing loudly when it is brought up is not enough. We have to feel both the offense of the offended and the defiance of the offender. That comes across better in the second act than it does in the first. 

To warn attendees, there are signs posted outside the theater letting them know of the strong language — a nice touch. Directed by Brenda Porter, the play does a great job of using the word only when necessary, avoiding a Quentin Tarantino-like indulgence of hate speech. 

N is the story of Charles Gilpin (de Graffenreaidt), an actor who gets the chance to play more than racist caricatures in minstrel shows when he wins the leading role in Eugene O’Neill’s 1920 Broadway-bound play The Emperor Jones. The part, originally considered for a white actor to play in blackface, would be the first to feature a Black man as a dramatic lead on the Great White Way. The role was complex, tragic and layered, a character that didn’t come Gilpin’s way too often. 

The challenge for Gilpin was the N word. O’Neill (Soinski), claiming to have Black friends who frequently used the epithet, insisted Gilpin’s Brutus Jones, the play’s lead, say the word often. Gilpin pushed back, arguing that the word is used in the Black community because of a shared experience. Among whites it is used for division, he said 

O’Neill, who would go on to win four Pulitzer Prizes, balked and demanded Gilpin follow the script.

Gilpin acquiesces initially. But as the play’s Broadway run progresses, he finds way to say “Negro” or “colored” in place of the N-word, angering O’Neill. After a national tour of the play ends, O’Neill confronts Gilpin and fires him for his defiance. 

Offended, Gilpin shoots back. “I had to fix your mediocre scripts,” he says. “It’s a demeaning racist stereotype.” In response, O’Neill barks, “That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. You had no right changing any of my words.”

That exchange gets to the meat of the play and the power dynamics. Gilpin must make a choice in a world that affords him little say-so, and de Graffenreaidt plays with this dynamic superbly. After his downfall, you can hear the pain in Gilpin’s voice when, facing financial ruin, he pleads with O’Neill for another chance in a revival of the play. But the capitulation is fleeting as Gilpin ultimately falls even more apart and takes to the stage drunk, haunted by a role he says is the greatest and worst thing to happen to him.

As Gilpin’s wife Florence, Daniels has the smaller, more familiar role of being the supportive and level-headed partner. It’s a role of smiles and worries that would normally have nowhere to go. But Daniels shines in a scene where she meets with O’Neill to beg for her husband’s job back and especially later in the play, where she confronts an arrogant O’Neill at Gilpin’s funeral. 

Soinski, for his part, balances well the role of someone who thinks he’s a saint but is often a villain. As O’Neill, he shouts a lot and makes clear who’s in control. But he also met the moment in a role demanding someone who can play blind to his ambition — someone who cloaks himself in false modesty and is unwilling to hear that the way he wrote a Black man’s experience may be flawed.

Pulling these dynamics together makes N a worthy experience. 

Where and When

Co-produced with Impact Theatre, N is on stage at Academy Theatre through November 8. Tickets start around $38.
599 N. Central Ave., Hapeville

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Leon Stafford is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years of experience at various newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He has covered municipal government, business, education, hospitality and the arts during his career.