Sweeter Than Justice plays more like the novel Robert Lipkin says he started out to write before he converted it to a drama. It’s hard to tell what the play’s point is. Is it how being raped completely changed the life of Geanina Palmieri? Is it how that crime got so involved in others’ lives? Is it that legal procedure can be twisted to go beyond justice or even pervert it? Though all these ideas overwhelm Lipkin’s play, his ways of posing questions about them are underwhelming. The central rape incident has a twist. Joey Donnatucci (Rafael Petlock as a B-movie smart ass son of an Italian crime boss) is arrested for a murder he might well have committed but didn’t. It took place at the time of the rape. Only Geanina, whose live was drastically changed by Joey’s attack, can save him by admitting to police and court what he did to her and when. Despite his father trying forcefully to get her to testify, she takes over a year and the time of a whole play to act. Several subplots, or hints of them, could well be done away with, but director and actors do their best to make them relevant. Brianna Larsen’s as a prostitute-type (among fill-in parts like that of a court reporter) is the prime example of being convincing though she’s obviously around to supply one important detail. A better bit is Dan Higgs’ priest, who may or may not have seen the real murderer fleeing. Higgs later comes on strong and almost unrecognizably in dark wig and with steely manner as court attorney. Tom Foley gets by with playing Michael Shapiro, willing to wait through thick and mostly thin for Geanina to marry him, though he’s pretty much too good to be true. As bartender Frank Goldstein, Don Walker convinces with his Holocaust survivor’s perceptions aimed at Geanina of how to survive victimization. But he looks more uncomfortable than in any part I’ve ever seen him play. Joseph Parra brings obvious professionalism to playing Boss Marco Donnatucci and, thanks to his and the director’s efforts, resists settling solely into the stereotype of the Italian (usually from Sicily) mobster. It’s undeniable that Amanda Schlachter as Geanina Palmieri is the star of Lipkin’s play. He’s right to give her a number of direct addresses to the audience. In these she becomes a bit more than the personification of a fictional character. Her use of equivocation in court is a high point. In between her introduction and conclusion, though, she’s not all that appealing, no matter how hard Schlachter tries to justify her feelings. The gal’s too self-referencing. Too wanting it all (first finish studies, next be a lawyer, then be a legal success, then marry Michael) on her own terms. Robert Foti’s scenery conveys South Philadelphia, early ‘60s, immediately and accurately, especially the restaurant with photo of JFK behind the bar and well-placed tables with red checkered cloths and appropriate settings. Director Carole Kleinberg has staged the many scene changes (to a jail, a central position for talking to the audience, a hotel dining room, Geanina’s apartment, a courtroom) with as much care as the scenes, so that there’s no great lag between them. Joe Micas’s music contributes appropriately as do Chris McVickers’ lighting and sound. Cristy Owen provides costumes true to the period, though Geanina’s clothes exactly matching the color scheme of upholstery in her apartment have an almost comic effect. The script is said to have come a long way since Lipkin’s original one, but there’s yet more revision needed. He has definitely, however, found a compelling dramatic situation that might well warrant further working on--if not as a play, then back to its start as a novel. Maybe even adaptable, for example, to a readers’ theater piece. If anyone could supply the requisite help, it would seem to be Carole Kleinberg.
