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Meet Thurgood Marshall

By Matt Windman

5:57 PM EDT, April 30, 2008

Laurence Fishburne in "Thurgood", portrays Thurgood Marshall, a pioneering civil rights attorney who grew up in the backstreets of Baltimore, argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court, and became the first African-American Supreme Court justice. Leonard Foglia directs the play which is written by George Stevens Jr. (Newsday/Ari Mintz)

Though the one-person show has become an increasingly complex genre of live performance, we still get plenty of old-fashioned one-person shows built on the tried, true and tired "Meet George Washington" style of biography. After all, what producer wouldn't want to achieve the success of " Mark Twain Tonight" or even "Golda's Balcony"?

"Thurgood," a 90-minute biography of Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), the first African-American Supreme Court Justice and a leading crusader for civil rights, is no exception. Playing the title role is Laurence Fishburne, who is probably best known now as Morpheus in the "Matrix" trilogy.

The play simulates a lecture a delivered by Marshall in 1991 at Howard University, his alma mater. He has just resigned from the Supreme Court, and Clarence Thomas has yet to replace him. Aided by only a handful of props and visual projections, it is an unashamedly simple, straightforward monologue. Without comparison, it is the most modest show of any kind now on Broadway.

Though the character pretends to answer a few questions from the audience as though it were an actual lecture, the format is basically a vehicle to recite bits and pieces of Marshall's life story as though it were a stream of consciousness essay. In between the retelling of his career victories, humorous and occasionally sexual anecdotes are thrown into the mix.

Surprisingly, the legal challenges and complexities that Marshall tackled are watered down. Most surprisingly, his Supreme Court record is harshly reduced to a four-minute summary. More emphasis is placed on his childhood and, very broadly, his passion for civil rights.

Luckily, Laurence Fishburne's thoroughly charming, warm-hearted performance prevents "Thurgood" from turning into a Wikipedia article or high school history class. Fishburne is stunning and spectacular while arguing the appeal of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. Perhaps someday he can play Thurgood Marshall in a better play.

Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th St, 212-239-6200, $71.50-96.50. Tues 8pm, Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 3pm. Thru July 20.