“Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”
As Act One of “Parade” ends, the main character, a Jewish businessman named Leo Frank, is convicted of killing a young girl. It is 1913 in Georgia; the case has been skewed by antisemitism, and Frank is sentenced to death by hanging.
Then it’s intermission.
Ben Platt, who plays Frank, remains onstage. He removes his clothes and dons a prison uniform. And for about 15 minutes, he sits as if in a cell, atop a 13-by-13-foot platform at center stage, silent.
“There’s so much ground to cover in the show, there’s no time to dwell on the literal truth that this man had to spend the end of his life in isolation,” Platt said. “And for me, no matter what is happening emotionally, this is always a time within the show that’s only devoted to thinking about that.”
Platt’s wordless presence throughout the intermission — a period of time when two years elapse — has become one of the most talked-about elements of the show, in part because it feels like a feat of concentration, and in part because it can be photographed, so it winds up on TikTok and other social media.
“Parade” is based on history, and this staging was the idea of the revival’s director, Michael Arden.
“It was just this strange fever-dream hunch that I had: this image of Ben sitting onstage, being trapped on what would be his gallows,” Arden said. “I wanted to challenge the audience, when they’re getting their cocktail or texting their friends or talking about what they’re having for dinner, to look back and see Ben onstage, and to get a sense that while the world was turning, this man was sitting in a prison cell.”
Some patrons sit quietly in their seats, as if keeping vigil with the character; many get up to take pictures, and some have tried to get Platt’s attention.