‘Glamorous Assassin’ a Haunting Portrait

“Actors are to be seen, not known,” cautions Brendan Hughes as John Wilkes Booth in “Glamorous Assassin” at Glaxa Studios. Nevertheless, the British actor’s well-researched solo portrait seeks to peel the veil of inscrutability from the infamous thespian-turned-murderer.

Rescuing Booth’s complexity from stereotypical vilification, Hughes reveals a haunted figure torn between insatiable vanity and patriotic zeal for the defeated Confederacy. Amid the feverish alcoholic swirl of Booth’s reminiscences and diatribes, Abraham Lincoln becomes the focal point for all Booth’s demons, both political and personal.

Yet this vengeful killer is also a man of undeniable charm. Like a dapper Gary Oldman, Hughes’ interpretation exudes refined decadence that wriggles past our revulsion (though some distracting accent vacillation needs attention).

Throughout, Booth measures his life against the Shakespearean characters through which he enjoyed an enormously popular acting career--Brutus, Macbeth and Richard III have all left their psychic imprints. Ambivalence for his own profession has been shaped in the shadows of a family of actors, including his alcoholic English father and his more accomplished brother, Edwin. Feelings of inadequacy fuel his obsession to move beyond the pretend world of the stage with a political statement for the ages.

Taut direction by Nicholas Ellsworth, augmented with Edward Salas’ scene-shifting lighting effects, propels the piece at a brisk clip. The overall narrative could benefit from tighter integration of its disparate threads (the Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical “Assassins” evoked Booth’s impassioned delusions more economically, albeit with less historical detail). But Hughes effectively slams the door on the facile dismissal of Booth as a mere deranged fanatic.

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* “Glamorous Assassin,” Glaxa Studios, 3707 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends June 7. $12. (213) 694-1819. Running time: 2 hours.