A very powerful piece of contemporary American drama is currently running at Portland Stage. “The Whipping Man” is a post-Civil War fable that surgically explores the complex web of emotion and circumstance among three men ”“ two recently emancipated slaves and their wounded warrior of a young master.  

The setting is the ruined, formerly grand, family estate in Richmond, Virginia. The time is April 1865, just after the end of the Civil War. The former glory of the Richmond estate has been ravaged by war, looting and the chaos that marked the Confederate capitulation. 

The play opens to an ominous stormy night of lightning flashes, raging winds and cracks of thunder. Caleb, the soldier son, returns to his devastated home severely wounded. His body and his spirit are broken. His horse carries him home only to die of hunger and exhaustion.  Caleb, close to death himself, collapses through the front door, incapacitated by a gangrenous useless leg infected by a massive ordinance of lead.  

Coming to his aide is the kindly Simon, the loyal family slave, newly emancipated. Simon remains the only occupant of the devastated family estate looted of all furnishings and anything of value.

The role of Simon is magnetically played by Ray Anthony Tomas, a consummate actor of rich talent. He delivers a deeply resonant, full bodied performance with a beautifully modulated voice. His vocal texture is a warmly nuanced baritone with which he expertly intones deep sensitivity, prayer and song. All tolled, it is one of the finest acting performances I have witnessed at Portland Stage.  

The newly freed slave, John, is a young firebrand and grew up at the side of his young master Caleb. He is sharply intelligent, incisive, a thief, a looter and a slave with a deeply troubled past. The complexity of his relationship to his masters is revealed in shocking episodes throughout the proceedings and is not fully revealed until the final line of the play.  

This is provocative drama and not for the nervous. Nerves are exposed and explored with a ruthless vengeance; this is theater that cuts to the bone.  

Written into “The Whipping Man” is a clever network of ironies, role reversals and dark secrets. It deftly confronts the difficult issues of slavery, the dynamics of human ownership and the convoluted relationship of human cruelty and compassion. 

 It is interesting to note that two plays dealing with the Civil War have been presented in recent months by our regional theaters. Maine State Music Theatre presented “Chamberlain,” a beautifully rendered saga of an unlikely Civil War hero who suffered nine wounds from Confederate muskets, survived and eventually became governor of Maine and president of Bowdoin College. “The Whipping Man” paints a deeply disturbing picture of military disgrace and the sad horror of our nation’s past. 

“The Whipping Man” continues through March 15, tickets are $37 to $47. For more information and reservations, call the Portland Stage Box Office at 774-0465 or on the web at www.portlandstage.org.