‘I start from the supposition that the world is topsy-turvy, that things are all wrong . . . that the wrong people are in power and the wrong people are out of power,” announces the actor playing Howard Zinn at the beginning of “Rebel Voices.”
This adaptation of the iconoclastic historian’s “People’s History of the United States” spends the next 90 minutes talking about just that.
A cast of six performers, plus various guest performers – Staceyann Chin appeared on opening night, and Danny Glover, Patti Smith and Ally Sheedy are promised for the future – reads passages from the book, which provides a guide of historical events that have shaped our country through the perspectives of the downtrodden, oppressed and those who defied the political conventions of their time.
And so we heard from Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Malcolm X, as well as unsung figures relating to the labor movement of the 1930s, the war in Vietnam, and the dropping of the atomic bomb.
For this theatrical version by Rob Urbinati, several topical segments have been added, including testimonies from a Hurricane Katrina survivor and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.
The passionate nature of the source material is undercut by the static nature of the presentation. Under the direction of Urbinati and Will Pomerantz, the actors recite their texts with book in hand, while identifying labels and still photographs are projected behind them.
It all adds up to a sort of alternative civics lesson, albeit one filled with undeniable passion and purpose.
The actors vary in effectiveness, with the standouts being Tim Cain, playing such figures as a Vietnam veteran describing wartime atrocities, and Thom Rivera, who delivers Martin Duberman’s account of the Stonewall riots with flair.
REBEL VOICES
Culture Project, 55 Mercer St.; (212) 352-3101. Through Dec. 16.