ANDREA PHOX
John Lescault, left, and Christopher Daftsios co-star in “The Other American.”
D.W. Gregory’s “The Other American,” which is currently having its world premiere at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, is a drama that is based on a true story. It is about the painter Stanley Glickman, who you have probably never heard of. And it shows why he never got a chance to achieve more prominence in that field.
In 1952, Glickman was an American living in Paris, studying with the painter and sculptor Fernand Léger. He was in his mid-20s, and one of his paintings had been seen selected to be displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He had, seemingly, a bright future in front of him, as an artist.
But then he met “the other American,” in a bar one night. And after that, he never painted again. “My old life was over, and I had to remake myself,” he says in the play, adding that he felt like his life had “shattered like glass.”
The other American, he came to believe later, was Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA agent who was conducting research on LSD. Gottlieb, he believed, spiked his drink with a massive amount of the drug, after striking up a conversation with him: The purpose was to, later, be able to conduct experiments on Glickman after Glickman suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to The American Hospital in Paris (to which he was indeed admitted).
ANDREA PHOX
Christopher Daftsios with Naja Selby-Morton, left, and Amie Bermowitz in “The Other American.”
Glickman did recover, but he never was the same again. His artistic ambitions vanished. He never married, and ended up earning a meager living as the owner of a tiny antique store in New York’s Greenwich Village. He died in 1992, at the age of 65.
Gregory’s play, directed here by James Glossman, jumps back and forth from Brooklyn, before Glickman even goes to Paris; to Paris; to New York and Washington, D.C., in the ’80s and early ’90s, when Glickman attempted to get Gottlieb to face legal consequences for his alleged actions.
Christopher Daftsios plays Glickman with a haunting vulnerability. John Lescault is appropriately blustery and unapologetic as Gottlieb. Other characters include Sarah (Naja Selby-Morton), Glickman’s down-to-earth love interest during his time in Paris; Sylvia (Amie Bermowitz), Glickman’s overprotective sister; and Don (Eli Ganias), Sylvia’s regular-guy husband. Selby-Morton, Bermowitz and Ganias also play people involved in Glickman’s legal quest, and other characters.
Glickman’s breakdown is truly harrowing. But the second of the play’s two acts, which is mostly devoted to Glickman’s legal struggles, is a bit of a letdown.
It is effectively shown that Glickman went through something tragic, and that Gottlieb is monstrously oblivious to the damage he has caused. Gottlieb argues that it was vital to national security to learn — quickly — exactly what the newly discovered substance known as LSD could do, in order to defuse the possibility that it could be weaponized by The Soviet Union.
“This might be a Cold War,” he says, reflecting on the past. “But it was still war. And you have to be willing to do whatever it takes.” He accepts, with a shrug, the fact that innocent Americans could have been hurt in the process. But he denies that he did anything, specifically, to Glickman.
ANDREA PHOX
Eli Ganias in “The Other American.”
In other words, Gottlieb has confessed to acting reprehensibly. The only thing left to determine is whether Glickman can nail him on the specifics — and that seems, from the start, like a real long shot, given how many years ago the incident happened, and how murky the circumstances were. Not to mention the fact that Gottlieb has destroyed vital evidence. (He claims he was just protecting sources.)
It is important that Glickman’s story be known by as many people as possible. But in terms of dramatic tension, the ordeal he went through does not really offer an ideal set of circumstances, for a play.
That said, New Jersey Repertory Company does a great job of grounding this drama in real life. Some of Glickman’s paintings are on display in the theater’s lobby, while others can be seen at NJ Rep’s nearby West End Art Gallery. And on the night I attended, the theater company’s executive producer, Gabor Barabas, gave a brief but fascinating introductory talk about how Glickman’s story first came to their attention, 25 years ago — Glickman’s sister, an NJ Rep patron, gave them his confused but compelling writings — and why they decided to commission the play.
New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch will present “The Other American” through Sept. 29. Visit njrep.org.
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