‘Shot’ shines a light on Wilcox’s patriotism

In December 1900, Robert Wilcox was elected Hawaii’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Hawaiian Independent Party controlled both houses of the Territorial Legislature, but the governor, Sanford B. Dole, was the former president of the republic’s white minority government and no friend of the Hawaiian people.

Wilcox did not have a vote to trade for influence in Congress, but he went to Washington with great expectations its members would live up to the ideals of the American dream and help the Hawaiian people.

Welcome to “Wilcox’s Shot,” playwright Sean T.C. O’Malley’s third look at the life and times of this controversial Hawaiian patriot.

O’Malley and cast member Albert Ueligitone portray Wilcox as a proud, passionate and visionary man driven by his love for Hawaii and desire to help the Hawaiian people. The first scene is slower than it needs to be, but from there on Ueligitone makes Wilcox a sympathetic, albeit flawed, protagonist. His flaws? Well, too much faith in the fairness of the American political system for one. Not enough faith in the political capabilities of his wife —played with similar charm and passion by Danielle Zalopany — for another. Zalopany’s large, expressive eyes effectively convey Theresa Wilcox’s frustration at her husband’s unwillingness to accept her as an equal partner in his campaign to make friends and influence people.

Tony Nickelsen (Theodore Roosevelt) plays America’s 26th president as a bold colossus of a man, good-hearted and well-meaning but constrained by political realities. Roosevelt treats Wilcox as an equal while others in Washington consider him “colored.” O’Malley reminds us that Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to invite an African-American to dinner at the White House and was savagely attacked by much of the press for doing so.

Troy M. Apostol stands out in two diametrically opposed supporting roles. He appears first in a broad comic role as a stereotypical Italian chef, then returns as a far more elaborate character — Afro-Caribbean entertainer Bert Williams. Apostol’s skill as an actor is the key ingredient in a scene in which Williams realizes, after meeting the Wilcoxes, that the “Hawaiian music” in his act is a caricature of the real thing. Apostol’s command of subtlety and nuance is key again in a scene in which Williams allows Robert Wilcox to deduce that he isn’t the ignorant “darkie” he plays onstage.

Jordan T. Savusa (Booker T. Washington) has a small but important scene as the dignified spokes­man for African-American advancement. Scott Robertson (Leon Czol­gosz), Rikki Jo Hickey (Emma Goldman) and Jenn Thomas (Edith Roosevelt) play historical figures that O’Malley writes as comic characters. Robertson is a bundle of nervous energy as a presidential assassin, Hickey is a Eurotrash flirt as a Jewish anarchist and Thomas is outspoken and domineering as Roosevelt’s wife.

“Wilcox’s Shot” will be one kind of dramatic experience for play-goers who know the history and a different type for those who do not. Viewed from either perspective, it is a welcome look at another chapter in the life of a patriotic Hawaiian, and at issues that still concern America and Native Hawaiians today.