The Keegan Theatre’s Lizzie offers a raw, rambunctious revival of this rock-infused anthem to feminism. With its undercurrents of molestation, repression, and same-sex love set against the rigid strictures of Victorian society, Lizzie Borden proves an ideal subject for a 21st-century reckoning with girl power. It’s almost a misnomer to call this production a “musical.” With virtually no spoken dialogue, it plays more like a rock opera, propelled by a well-crafted sequence of songs underscored by pulsating rock rhythms.
Four dazzling performers bring Lizzie’s story to life, excavating the family dysfunction that may have driven her over the edge. … Caroline Graham commands the stage as the volatile, conflicted Lizzie. Coiled with rage, she recounts her father’s abuse in “This Is Not Love.” Brigid Wallace Harper, as Bridget the maid, provides wry commentary on the dysfunctional Yankee family, venting her resentment as a looked-down-upon Irish immigrant while cleverly extorting Lizzie’s sister, Emma (Sydne Lyons), to keep her silence. Lyons’s Emma, more level-headed than her sister, bears her own emotional scars. Her close harmonies with Graham in “What the F**k, Now, Lizzie?” and “Watchmen for the Morning” highlight both their intimacy and their shared frustration as unmarried sisters whose parsimonious father may be diverting their inheritance to his second wife.
Perhaps the most poignant moment comes from next-door neighbor Alice (a luminous Savanah Blackwell), who harbors her own secret — she’s in love with Lizzie. In the aching ballad “If You Knew,” she asks, “Could I still touch you? Would you let me comfort you if you knew?” Blackwell’s voice radiates tenderness and longing, perfectly capturing the ache of forbidden love in a stifling world.
Director and choreographer Jennifer J. Hopkins leads the four women with precision and energy, supported by an onstage band of outstanding musicians conducted by keyboardist Marika Countouris. Sage Green’s lighting design pulses with eerie greens and yellows, sometimes illuminating the audience as well as the stage to draw us deeper into the psychological chaos.
Scenic designer and technical director Josh Sticklin provides a clever, versatile set — watch as massive columns shift from interior to exterior spaces, transforming into reflective surfaces that mirror the show’s shifting moods. Costume designer Logan Benson deftly evokes the rigid elegance of late-Victorian fashion before subverting it with raised hems. Without spoiling the final costume transformations, suffice it to say that they, along with the escalating ferocity of the score, compel us to confront Lizzie Borden’s enduring resonance with contemporary audiences.
This production vividly illustrates how we continually reimagine America’s folk heroes and antiheroes to create a “usable past” that speaks to the present. Bravo to the Keegan Theatre for a spirited and compelling revival of a splendid show.
