Spotlight: former teen heartthrob Jason Priestley stars in David Mamet’s theatrical scorcher Race
Jason Priestley spent the ’90s playing the unimpeachably noble high schooler Brandon Walsh on the ur–teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210. Since then, he’s been chipping away at that innocent image—most recently as the coke-snorting, babe-banging car salesman Richard Fitzpatrick on HBO Canada’s Call Me Fitz. Starting this month, he throws himself deeper into the moral murk for the Canadian Stage production of David Mamet’s controversial drama Race.
In his first stage role in over a decade, Priestley plays a Machiavellian attorney named Jack Lawson who must defend a white man accused of raping a black woman. Cynical Mamet male that he is, Lawson focuses only on landing an acquittal. It’s a genius casting move. Watching the former paragon of teen virtue transform into a shady opportunist makes for a riveting 90 minutes of racially charged verbal jousting.
THEATRE
Race
By David Mamet
Bluma Appel Theatre
April 7 to May 5
