ASSASSINS synopsis- As the musical opens, a crowd is gathering at a carnival shooting gallery which features a revolving wheel on which various Presidents are depicted. Attempting to entice customers towards his stand, the proprietor of this little shooting gallery shouts out loudly, "C'mere and kill a President!" From this nightmarish beginning, the play goes on to examine the lives of various men and women who have committed--or attempted to commit--the ultimate crime. Sondheim and Weidman show little regard for historical accuracy, freely mixing characters from different periods in a kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory revue. From Samuel Byck who hijacked a plane and tried to kill Nixon by crashing into the White House to Charles Manson groupie Squeaky Fromme to the infamous John Wilkes Booth--each presidential assassin is made to confront the fact that his or her act of meaningless violence failed to bring about the desired results. For these lost souls, Sondheim composes "Another National Anthem," the nightmarish underside of the American dream.
The musical comes into sharp focus as we are transported to the Texas School Book Depository, November 22, 1963, where Lee Harvey Oswald, lonely and distraught, prepares to take his own life. That is, until Booth and the other assassins arrive and attempt to transform him into their avenging angel. Oswald, they believe, is their savior. He can justify their actions and secure for them all a place in history. Kennedy's assassination will be a watershed event--a crucial test against which all other acts of political violence will be measured. They feel this final act, if successful, will somehow legitimize their senseless lives.