A FREE MAN OF COLOR at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre

(Seen 11/24/10)

A monumental new work by John Guare takes us to New Orleans in 1801, just before the Louisiana Purchase changed the lives and lifestyles of Louisianans. It is the story of a former slave who not only buys his freedom, but becomes a philandering millionaire in this one-time French colony. After the United States takes control of the territory, his downfall quickly ensues.

This is his personal story, as well as society's and history's story. It is a sprawling and panoramic view of the times -- in the grand manner that Stoppard might pursue -- but unfortunately, it lacks the purpose and the focus that would lift it to another level of achievement.

The intertwining plots are drawn from from a variety of classic writers, and celebrities, who Guare acknowledges in a compact list under his own credit in the program. Byron, Congreve, Euripides, Jefferson, Milton, Moliere, Shakespeare, Napoleon -- and even Barbara Bush -- are among the olio of sources cited.

A huge cast under George C. Wolfe's direction strives to give life and meaning and momentum to this philosophical history lesson, and Jeffrey Wright as the title's free man of color, brings vitality and style to a complex role. But we are finally left with an unfulfilled endeavor of epic proportions.