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Peer Reviews
43 Plays for 43 Presidents
By Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo,
Chloë Johnston and Karen Weinberg
Directed by Sean Daniels
Reviewed by Cristina Martin
Entire contents copyright © 2008, Cristina
Martin. All rights reserved.
With the 2008 Presidential election looming, 43 Plays for 43 Presidents is certainly timely. Consisting of 43 short plays (none more than two minutes in length) which treat the lives and administrations of each of the U.S. Commanders-in-Chief in chronological order, it provides an overview of the office and of the office holders since our nation's inception.
Actors Cassie Beck, Nick Cordileone, Abigail Bailey Maupin, Gregory Maupin and Aaron Munoz take turns donning the blue blazer that distinguishes the President in each segment. They are all seasoned performers (Maupin and Maupin are co-founders of Louisville's Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble) who keep the action interesting and engage the audience according to the Neo-Futurist principles upon which the play is founded. As a team, they operate like clockwork. Whipping out and stashing their minimal props at the blink of an eye, they make flawless transitions from skit to skit. Also as the Neo-Futurists would have it, the audience is rarely tempted to confuse the actors with their roles; these actors manage to devote their energies wholeheartedly to the many roles they play throughout the show while remaining themselves, even calling each other by their real first names on stage. The result is one of both intimacy and distance as the audience feels included in the action yet able to evaluate it with unclouded judgment.
As entertainment and as theatre, the production succeeds. Perhaps this is why the set suggests a circus ring. Six square wooden boxes, used effectively to store props, are arranged on a round stage delineated by a low, curved wall toward the back. Beyond the wall a facsimile of Mt. Rushmore spans the backdrop, and the stage floor is covered with the Presidential seal, revealed when a tarp is pulled away at the start of the show. I expected to see elephants parading around and performing tricks on the boxes. In a manner of speaking, together with donkeys, they do.
Many a scholar has devoted an entire body of work to a single President; it's preposterous to think of providing a comprehensive history lesson about all 43 in two minutes for each. So the writers picked and chose what to portray, and the result varies from skit to skit. Looking at the work as a whole, this variety makes for a lively production consisting of material from the profound to the lighthearted, from the dramatic to the silliest slapstick. With the incorporation of dancing, singing, puppetry, a skiffle band, an eating (or at least face-stuffing) contest, and a rousing game of spin-the-bottle, there is truly something for every taste.
There is also a great deal of recitation of historical data and of quotations from the Presidents themselves — so much so that the audience barely has time to process what is being said, let alone to reflect upon it. My first reaction was to revert to student mode and panic, wondering how I was going to absorb all of this before the test on Friday. As with the Presidential trivia game that serves as a prelude to the show, I wondered about the purpose: Was it to allow those familiar with these facts to pat themselves on the back? To drive home to the rest of us what we didn't know (and presumably should) about our own Presidents? To teach us something — as much as we could grasp — piecemeal and at lightning speed?
I had to remind myself that this was not history class, and that those before me were performers first and foremost rather than educators. In the framework of this show, this latter role is best left to those who prepared the impressive study guide, available at the entrance, which provides not only a discussion of the play but also an outline of the structure of the U.S. government, a full page of information about each President, and a glossary of historical terms. What a resource! I began to see the litany of historical information recited in the show, rather, as a soundtrack of sorts and the Presidential plays as snapshots and spectacle. Viewed this way, it all works.
George Washington emerges as a mock story of Creation is recited, a version in which the English and the French, portrayed as serpents, vie for the favor of the First Man. From this point forward, there is never a dull moment: Aaron Munoz, giving a rendition of Benjamin Franklin straight out of the borscht belt, appears with Thomas Jefferson and steals the show as he lists the President's accomplishments but can't help touting his own. The White House actually burns on stage during Madison's administration, and Andrew Jackson's background is celebrated with an impromptu jam session on washboard, spoons, banjo, and washtub bass. Jackson (Gregory Maupin) forces Martin Van Buren (Nick Cordileone) to take the Presidential jacket with "Put this on, bitch!" and Van Buren, known as Old Kinderhook, does little during his term apart from following Jackson around and repeating "OK," a term he is mighty proud to have coined.
A sober note is struck with the advent of William Henry Harrison as we're called to contemplate the shameful treatment of Native Americans at the hands of the U.S. government, and Abigail Maupin is vicious in the popping of a slew of red balloons one by one with a sharp object, signifying the slaying of indigenous people. We're back to the amusing as Zachary Taylor jealously guards California, slapping the hands of those with hats labeled "North" and "South" who attempt to sneak up and grab it, and Millard Fillmore's segment is curious: the cast sits around calling out facts about the President one at a time, and each time they speak, they stuff their mouths (fill them more?) with another piece of what looks like white bread (though it might have been some synthetic spongy material, since I never actually saw anyone swallow). The tragedy of Franklin Pierce's life brings tears to one's eyes, as does that of Abraham Lincoln. The rest of the cast sit in darkness in a semicircle around Gregory Maupin as Lincoln, who sings of the importance of remaining steadfast while the others flick lighters as they recite the deaths Lincoln endured in his personal life and the losses incurred in Civil War battles.
From George Washington on, a scale stands on the low wall at the back of the stage. As states enter the Union, the actors call out their names and place blocks representing them on one side of the balance or the other, depending on whether they're slave states or free states. After the Emancipation Proclamation, the game's up: the states are scattered about the floor and the balance is left empty. When Andrew Johnson takes over after Lincoln's assassination, Nick Cordileone, standing in a brutal light, movingly evokes the shock and nightmare-like quality of the situation. Interestingly, after John F. Kennedy's assassination and Lyndon Johnson's becoming President, the very same nightmare segment is repeated.
In the case of more modern Presidents, it is much easier to detect the bias in the skits' humor and to bring background knowledge to bear in appreciating it. John F. Kennedy's segment consists of a video: Abigail Maupin interviewed various people around the city, posing the question, "Who really shot JFK?" One young man cagily told her that the word in certain circles was that it was actor Woody Harrelson's dad! (Who knew?) The unpredictable element of these on-the-spot interviews incorporated into the show is a Neo-Futurist trademark as well.
Paul Simon sings, "It's against the law" in the background at the start of the Nixon skit, during which some of the ensemble breaks away from a chipper song-and-dance number to sneak into the audience and steal purses! Aaron Munoz calls a stop to the petty thievery, saying, "Sorry, folks! Bet this doesn't happen at Glengarry [Glen Ross, also currently playing at Actors]." Munoz is hilarious as Ford, falling all over himself and getting into awkward physical predicaments. Carter, played by Cordileone, is ignored and shunned. Crickets chirp as he stands reciting his administration's considerable achievements, but once he removes the Presidential blazer, the others flock to him, fawning and standing him on a pedestal and awarding him the Nobel prize. Reagan pronounces contradictory statements as an elaborate pantomime involving arms being passed back and forth goes on in the background. While Abigail Maupin tacks letters on the backdrop, eventually spelling "How the Left was Lost," Cassie Banks delivers a speech as Bill Clinton — in nothing but the Presidential jacket and underwear!
One of the most amusing parts of the evening occurred during intermission. A gentleman seated several rows down from me stood up and announced (as was written in the program) that the 43rd skit was to be followed by a 44th, determined by the audience. Based on the volume of our applause, we were going to elect to see either a skit about Barack Obama as our next President or one with John McCain in the role. "In all the times this play has been performed," the gentleman said, "the audience vote has always been for Obama. But tonight, the author of the other skit is in the audience, so let's get to see it for a change by giving a rousing round of applause for that son-of-a-bitch McCain!" [As I understand it, playwright Andrew Bayiates was indeed in the audience, but it was his wife who had actually penned the McCain skit.] As it happened, the majority could not in good conscience vote for McCain no matter what the circumstances, so we saw the Obama skit. It consisted of Obama (Cassie Beck) jumping rope while two other actors turned the rope and recited rhymes about Obama's life and about the challenges facing him. They turned faster and faster, first one rope and then two ropes turning in opposite directions which Beck was required to jump Double Dutch style. And the President was thoroughly up to the task.
So what are we to take away from all of this? Well, a voter registration form, for one thing, passed out to every audience member at the conclusion of the last skit. As Gregory Maupin sums up, all of these Presidents, in all their lively diversity, were elected by the People, and we People are responsible for the direction our country takes from here. If it's anything like the past portrayed in this show, the future of the Presidency promises to be peopled with characters, each of whom will contribute uniquely to our history.
43 Plays for 43 Presidents
September 9-28, 2008
Victor Jory Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 West Main Street
502-584-1205
www.ActorsTheatre.org/
Posted via donated wi-fi during the power outage, Sept. 20, 2008
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