AN EVENING WITH JOHN WILKES BOOTH

Wow. I feel like I saw the real John Wilkes Booth somehow show up to talk about his life instead of just having watched a play. As portrayed, Booth alternates between being a frightening, racist, Lincoln-hating assassin to being a charismatic, humorous, charming, egotistical actor who loves to brag about himself and regale his audience with stories about his extraordinary life. Actor Stephen Spiegel portrays Booth and effortlessly brings him to life as a complete and complex person. There is a lot of history packed into this show and it is not at the expense of good character development. I was engrossed. The play moves along quite quickly and never lags, seeming much shorter than 80 minutes. I highly recommend this show.... full review

Stephen Spiegel truly breathes life into the character of John Wilkes Booth! He humanizes this real-life villain, unafraid of depicting him as a man possessing charm, wit, and charisma. He also vividly illustrates Booth's serious character flaws and doesn't whitewash his treacherousness in assassinating Abraham Lincoln. A fantastic and transcendent performance! Entertaining, fearless and compelling! You'll walk out of the theater believing you somehow wandered into a time machine and actually met and became acquainted with this historical figure! Bravo!... full review

If you are into history, this is the show for you. A very entertaining, well-done and fast-paced show about John Wilkes Booth, and how he came to be. It is full of historical trivia while being an excellent character study. Stephen Speigle's performance is incredible, Lloyd Schwartz's direction keeps it moving a very fast clip and Clinton Case does a great job combining history and drama, making it all very accessible. Go.... full review

Completely entertaining history lesson that held my interest from beginning to end. This is a well-polished, standout piece amongst the fringe roster. Stephen is charming and meticulous in his portrayal as Booth and definitely gives one of the outstanding, not-to-be-missed performances of the festival. ... full review

John Wilkes Booth's point of view of the assassination of Lincoln. Funny and moving. Very well acted and directed... full review

This show was amazing. The actor fully embodied JWB and the script was brilliant.... full review

A wonderful show! Interesting, profound, funny and shocking. Stephan was wonderful as JWB. A truly amazing performance. This is one of those rare gems of Fringe. Do not miss it. ... full review

Lengthy but progressively more absorbing POV of John Wilkes Booth justifying the patriotism of his assassination of President Lincoln. A 75-minute marathon for a solo show performer, so they're lucky to have STEPHEN SPIEGEL, who brings Experience and Charisma (that reminded me of my favorite, Kevin Kline) to the mighty task of capturing Mr Booth's ego and well as his cunning. ... full review

Dark and educational, but not stodgy, in fact quite playful in this team's hands. At times quite striking.... full review

Tremendous performance from Stephen Spiegel..! Shows a ton of range and polish, embodies Wilkes Booth incredibly, really feel a sense of the historical personality, and I want to believe it's exactly as Stephen chooses to show it to us here.... full review