When one thinks of Stephen Sondheim, the terms “post-modern” and “controversial” don’t often
come to mind.

When your CV includes classics like “West Side Story,” “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd,” and even Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy,” it’s hard to be considered a non-conformist. Yet, Sondheim frequently took unconventional approaches to storytelling, especially as he took more control: “Into the Woods” blurred the line between the narrator and characters and “Merrily We Roll Along” used a reverse-linear narrative structure.

The composer was also drawn to material no one else wanted to touch: juvenile delinquency; murder; the sexual and violent origins of fairy tales. Those shows may be mainstream now, but they all were controversial upon release.

Another theater entity known for experimentation and controversial material is the Oakland
Theater Project. Their 2026 “Land of the Free” season continues with Sondheim’s incendiary
1990 musical “Assassins,” playing through April 19. As with their preceding show, “The Mountaintop,” this one also examines a watershed American killing outside the laws of space and time.

Whereas “Mountaintop,” about the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,
was from the perspective of the victim, Sondheim and librettist John Weidman here give voice to the killers — all would-be assassins of U.S. presidents. The Commander-in-Chief-killing ensemble
includes no less than John Wilkes Booth, John Hinkley, Leon Czolgosz, Charles Guiteau,
Giuseppe Zangara, Samuel Byck, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, and Sara Jane Moore. Not all were successful, but each carved out their place in history.

OTP being OTP, a straightforward staging wouldn’t do. Director Weston Scott’s post-modern
take makes the existence of the musical itself part of the narrative. Actor Adam KuveNiemann
plays our nameless extremist, seen doomscrolling through politically charged TikTok videos in
his garage. He begins to record of his own, but can’t seem to think of what to say. It’s then that
the published script for “Assassins” falls from thin air.

Perhaps unfamiliar with the show, the extremist listens to a cast recording on Spotify. But doing is better than seeing, so he stages his own solo version of the show right there in his garage,  personifying all the killers he idolizes. After all, the show is about the aforementioned killers goading one another into carrying out their attempts, so why not have it radicalize a social media hermit?

Once again, a great deal of credit has to go to OTP’s go-to set designer Sam Fehr. It’s one thing
to make a set elaborate, which he’s done before, but it’s quite another to be both minimalist and
intricate. It’s been a while since the FLAX art & design garage has actually looked like, well, a garage. The touches of the conspiracy corkboard board (complete with red string pinned to
photos of Trump cabinet members), the eviction notice, and the spare tools lying about tell a
story about our nameless protagonist before he utters a word.

KuveNiemann, a familiar face to New Conservatory Theatre audiences in SF, certainly has the look nailed for the kind of anti-social white incel who’d be lurking in the comments of a TikTok feed. One doesn’t envy his personifying a full ensemble of killers, but he and Scott’s approach of having them represent the protagonist’s fractured psyche rings true. Modern extremists aren’t known for their love of Broadway, but a song about impressing a girl by killing a president takes on new meaning when sung from the lips of a social media loner.

The singing varies throughout the show. KuveNiemann clearly has range, but a few ill notes make one wonder if his voice cracked from exhaustion (he shouts quite a lot) or if it’s a choice to show the character isn’t a trained vocalist?

Unlike Sondheim and Weidman’s book, OTP ends their production with our protagonist at a
crossroads: he hasn’t killed anyone yet, but there’s nothing stopping him from doing so. After all,
neither choice will erase that eviction notice from his door. The deconstructed production is
bound to divide viewers, particularly Sondheim fans. Indeed, its approach often veers from
intriguing to grating at times. Still, the actor and company take a bold approach with their
unpolished look at a classic musical. The production gets audiences to do what Sondheim himself always said he wanted his audiences to do: pay attention to the lyrics.

Charles Lewis III claims to be an award-nominated journalist, culture critic, and performing artist born and raised in San Francisco. He alleges to have been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, the San Francisco Examiner, and many more. Dodgy evidence of this can be found at The Thinking Man’s Idiot.

‘ASSASSINS’

By Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and John Weidman (book), presented by Oakland Theater Project

Through: April 19

Where: FLAX art and design, 1501 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland

Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $10-$70; oaklandtheaterproject.org