Welcome to the month before the Great Election of 2008, when the biggest show isn't on Broadway (or the baseball diamond); it's in the wild shuck-and-jive of John McCain and Barack Obama. Of course, spotlight-seeking showbiz types will happily tell you which political candidate they prefer, and they can't help but entertain while they preach. Before your November visit to the voting booth, Metromix offers a list of the best political plays in a busy month.
Playwright Beau Willimon, at least, has the experience to back up his political opinions. This former campaign manager brings his Beltway experiences (winning elections for Schumer and Clinton among others) to the stage in "Farragut North." This tale of a wunderkind press secretary trying to spin a tight race stars one of Gotham's most talented young actors, John Gallagher Jr. (“Spring Awakening”).
The spin machine gets a once-over from the Culture Project, a company that loves to hurl political brickbats. This month, they present "The Atheist," a scathing critique of scandal-mongering journalism. The one-man show features Campbell Scott (a leading actor of the 1990s indy film scene) in this character study of a sleazy manipulator and compulsive liar.
Cutting through the white noise and BS, Mike Daisey is on hand at the Public Theater to describe not-so-simple truths about the American character. This extraordinary monologist is one of the most vital performers in New York City today. His latest work, "If You See Something Say Something," provides a history of American paranoia and propaganda by exhuming the mad science and madder strategy of the U.S. government during the Cold War.
If there's one subject that New York theater want to remind voters about, it's the military–especially the grunts stuck on extended tours in a draft-free war. Don't miss the return of "Black Watch" to St. Ann's Warehouse, a brilliant Scottish import (and our top pick of 2007) about a tough regiment more equipped to fight the rigors of the battlefield than the mismanagement of the war.
The Roundabout Theater unloads a double-barrel at military culture. First, they premiere "The Language of Trees" as part of Roundabout Underground. “Trees” deals with a translator who ships out to Iraq, and the neighbor who helps the family while he's away. Expect theatrical wonders from the imaginative Alex Timbers, moonlighting from his downtown cult company, Les Freres Corbusier.
Next, the Roundabout revives "Streamers," David Rabe's Tony-nominated barracks tragedy. Its soldiers are shipping out for Southeast Asia rather than the Middle East, but this play's relevance hasn't dated one iota. With race and sexuality complicating the complex relationships between a band of brothers, “Streamers” runs headlong into its cataclysmic conclusion.
But the final statement on the subject belongs to the Transport Group's "Bury the Deas." Irwin Shaw, part of the liberal generation that came of age during the Great Depression, gives voice to the silent dead of the battlefield. In a bit of magical realism, the victims of patriotism rise from their graves to protest their squandered youth. Thanks to director Joe Calarco, Gotham gets to see this classic for the first time since it closed in 1936.
Of course, there are shows that offer a break from the slogans and spin. If you're lost without post-season New York baseball, check out "Back Back Back." "Mindgame" offers escapist thrills as a writer of pulp fiction gets trapped in an insane asylum. More cerebral types won't want to miss master director Peter Brook adapting Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor." And for everything under the sun, check out “A.N.T. Fest”, a festival performance of crossed disciplines and mixed formats.
Photo by T Charles Erickson
