State of
the Union At the Strawdog Theatre By Dan Zeff Chicago – There are surprisingly few political plays in
American drama. The subject has attracted cabaret satirists and Hollywood (“Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington”). But politics has been a rare commodity on Broadway.
Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” comes to mind, and so does “State of the
Union.” A complete list wouldn’t be much
longer. The
Strawdog Theatre normally goes in for edgy plays, but being that this is an
election year, the company is reviving “State of the Union,” a political comedy
that won the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for drama. The play is very topical, so
younger spectators may not recognize names from the 1940’s like Wendell Wilkie
and Harold Stassen, personalities who would have drawn chuckles of recognition
from audiences of the time. But the play till holds up very well, as a comedy,
as an exploration of politics American style, and even as a romance. Russel
Crouse and Howard Lindsay wrote “State of the Union” about the Republican Party
brain trust grooming a successful young businessman named Grant Matthews to be
the party’s presidential candidate. Matthews initially is reluctant, but
political fever gets him and he is ready to go for the party nomination. Matthews
is charismatic, articulate, and an outsider untainted by the label
“politician.” That’s the good news for the party honchos hungry for a winning
candidate. The bad news is that Matthews is outspoken and carries his honesty
to an uncomfortable extreme. Matthews also has domestic problems. He’s
estranged from his wife Mary and apparently having an affair with Kay
Thorndyke, a newspaper publisher and very much a political insider. The play
takes the audience into the backrooms where political deals are brokered.
According to “State of the Union,” politics is the art of compromise and
greasing every special interest group that may have an impact at the polls.
That means labor, business, agriculture, the country’s regions, and the ethnic
vote. Tell them what they want to hear, and after the election there will be
plenty of time to deal with any earlier promises. The
spokesman for the national party’s wheeling/dealing maneuvers is James Conover.
Conover recognizes that the first obligation of a candidate is to get elected.
Matthews, and his wife, take what they see as the high road. Tell the truth as
they see it, and the devil take shady deals and temporizing with the facts.
Don’t sell the average Americans short. They can handle a good dose of honesty
on the issues. So says Matthews. Conover doesn’t hold the electorate’s
intelligence in such high esteem. The
Matthews side calls Conover’s attitude cynical. Conover calls the Matthews view
unrealistic. They are all essentially decent people who have opposite
worldviews when it comes to the political process. The
audience may recognize Matthews as virtuous, but naïve. If a candidate needs
the labor vote, or the business vote, or the farmer vote, or the
Polish-American vote, why not go after it? Matthews’ purity sounds good on the
stage, but his refusal to compromise might not get him elected dogcatcher in
real life. Much of
the play’s political talk is witty and stimulating. Conover makes a
disturbingly good case for his view of the political system. If I were running
for elective audience, I’d rather have him than Matthews as my advisor.
Matthews’s love triangle with the publisher and his wife melds in well with the
main political storyline, adding dramatic tension, humor, and an easy-to-take
sentimentality the narrative. The
opening night performance was a little ragged, with numerous small line fluffs
and a sluggish pace in spots. The dialogue should be dispensed with sizzle and
fizz. Director Geoff Button needs to get his large and able cast to pick up the
pace a bit to make the ideas and the wisecracks crackle. Michael
Dailey makes an admirable Grant Matthews, good looking and sincere in his
integrity, but also caught up in the enticements of possible political glory.
Kendra Thulin is outstanding as Mary Matthews, revolted by the manipulations
and deceits seemingly built into the political system. Plus she has to deal
with the tenuous state of her marriage. Quality
complementary performances come from B. F. Helman as Conover, Anderson Lawfer
as a sarcastic journalist on loan to the Matthews campaign, and Kristina
Johnson as the publisher with her own agenda for Matthews. A cluster of cameo
characters comes on stage in the final act during a political brainstorming
session at the Matthews apartment in New York City. They are caricatures, but
funny ones. I especially liked Kate Harris as the boozy and savvy wife of a
ninny Southern judge. And there was a droll bit by Brant Russell as an oafish
labor leader who finds to his perplexity that he’s the only person in the room
wearing a tuxedo. Marianna
Csaszar designed the upscale interior set. Joanna Melville’s costumes captured
the 1940’s look, down to the seamed stockings worn by the ladies. Mike Stanfill
designed the lighting and Andrew Wheatley the sound. Mike Przygoda composed the
original musical for a local big band who sounded swinging enough to play a
rewarding concert on their own. “State of
the Union” runs through November 13 at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 North
Broadway. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sunday
at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call 773 528 9696 or visit www.strawsog.org. The show
gets a rating of 3 1/2 stars. October 2010 Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com. Visit Dan on Facebook.
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Red Noses
At the Strawdog Theatre
By Dan Zeff
CHICAGO—In 1985, English dramatist Peter Barnes premiered a historical play called “Red Noses” about a troupe of amateur comedians who tried to bring laughter to plague-ravaged western Europe during the mid 1300’s. The play has established itself in the international repertoire but it likely never got the personal and resourceful treatment “Red Noses” is receiving at the Strawdog Theatre.
Like the play, the Strawdog staging mixes vaudeville, satire, broad comedy, music, and serious drama. But under the risk-taking directing of Matt Hawkins, “Red Noses” becomes a tour de force (and tour de farce) of theatrical vitality, creativity, and playfulness that segways into stirring and thought-provoking drama without striking g a false note.
Hawkins has assembled a massive cast of 23 performers, most of them young members of the Strawdog company, and he’s also borrowed from such “second tier” theaters as the Hypocrites, Factory, and House. If ever a production validated the depth of talent at the storefront level in Chicago’s theater community, it’s “Red Noses” under Hawkins’s wizard guidance.
At the beginning of the play, an itinerant priest named Father Flote decides that he can combat the horrors of the bubonic plague with comedy. So he assembles a collection of misfits who wear false red noses as their badge. They travel into the French countryside, performing comic plays to give succor to the afflicted.
Pope Clement VI is agreeable to Father Flote’s merry comedians as a distraction to the devastation of the plague. But once the disease runs its course, the pope demands that the father disband his company. With the emergency over, the church returns to requiring “submission and belief” from its followers. The papacy doesn’t need free and independent spirits like Father Flote to challenge church authority.
That’s the skeleton of Barnes’s plot that Hawkins uses as a blueprint for his bold and vibrant staging. Hawkins removes the historical medieval element by presenting the characters in modern, grungy costumes (some witty and bizarre combinations by designer Aly Renee Greaves). The Barnes original calls for musical interpolations and Hawkins and music director Mike Przygoda settle on pop-rock songs of the 1980’s, sung by the ensemble in various combinations, many performers playing musical instruments on stage.
The Strawdog playing area is a little larger than a suburban residential patio, but Hawkins uses the stage skillfully, shifting his large ensemble on and off and around the stage to give the action great energy. Heather Gilbert’s dramatic lighting is a big help.
Barnes, who died in 2004, obviously was no great admirer of organized religion. The church in “Red Noses” is tyrannical, self-serving, and corrupt. The pope, played with droll street smarts by Stephen Taylor, has no time for faith and spirituality. He has a church to run and his concern lies with power and obedience. He roots out cults and sects who might interfere, however unintentionally, with the church’s power over its people. When Father Flote and his comedians don’t submit, they are destroyed. The pope bears them no hard feelings, but business is business.
John Ferrick is superb as Father Flote, an ingenuous, compassionate man and a born leader in a time of crisis when the actual church leaders run for cover. Flote’s motley group of entertainers are all wonderfully realized on the Strawdog stage. I particularly liked Anderson Lawfer, who looks and acts like Robin Williams, as a brash blind juggler. Eric Roach is first rate as an exuberant Jerry Fallwell type leader of a group of flagellants who see self-inflicted pain as the only response to the plague.
Carmine Grisolia is very strong as a warrior who joins Father Flote’s troupe and then realizes his true vocation is a hired sword for the pope. Paul Fagen is fine as Father Toulon, a clerical spy the pope inserts into Flote’s company. Under Flote’s influence, Toulon converts from doctrinaire priest to a true believer in Flote’s cause, and he pays the price. There is a haunting character called Master Bells, who expresses herself through the sound of bells. She’s played with fetching charm by Sarah Goeden,
Every member of the ensembles carries his or her acting weight, several performers doubling and tripling in roles. They blend seamlessly into a coherent production that skips from Monty Python to Martin and Lewis to tragedy. What could have been silly and self indulgent in less disciplined hands turns out to be invigorating, funny, and ultimately moving.
The production cuts about 30 minutes from the Barnes script, trimming a show that originally ran an excessive almost three hours to a just-right 2 hours and 15 minutes without diminishing the original’s narrative points. All in all, a most enjoyable and even instructive evening and a tribute to a large group of enthusiastic and talented people on the stage and behind the scenes.
“Red Noses” runs through May 23 at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 North Broadway. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call 773 528 9696 or visit www.strawdog.org.
The show gets a rating of four stars. April 2009
Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com