The Body Politic

Wink, Wink, Nod.  James Carville and Mary Matalin must be ecstatic.  A whole play written about them - or at least about their story.  In case you live under a rock - they are two of the most diametrically opposed political operatives / commentators who fell in love and got married.  You know, they say politics make strange bedfellows.  Indeed, Richard Abrons and Margarett Perry (the playwrights and the latter also the director) have captured equal amounts of ideological sparing and the attractions it spawns.

Unfortunately, the story is somewhat stale to an audience bombarded on an weekly, daily, and hourly basis with political trickery, deception, and below-the-belt antics and shenanigans.  Who put that false story out there?  He said, she said.  I knew absolutely nothing about that.  Spin. Spin. Spin.  Make them look bad.  Let them bring themselves down.  Blackberries, laptops, and cell phones.  And lots of Starbucks.

The actors all did a fine job - two presidential candidates - Brian Dykstra (Democrat) and Daren Kelly (Republican) - making bumbling errors and pronouncing things incorrectly never fail to entertain.  Then there are two "older and more experienced" political advisors - Leslie Hendrix (Republican) and Michael Puzzo (Democrat).  Plenty of vitriol, bitterness, and regret going on there.  And then we have the two love-hate birds themselves - Matthew Boston (Republican) and Eve Danzeisen (Democrat).  Not enough chemistry for my taste here.  And it all might have been due to the mis-casting of Mr. Boston.  He appeared to me to be too old and out of step with his much younger opponent, Ms. Danzeisen.

Don't get me wrong - the story is entertaining, light, and mostly enjoyable - if only a scosche too long at 2 hours.  I don't think anyone should expect the  "oh my gosh, i can't believe how it ended" sort of show.  If you go in with the low expectations of such a satirical political romp, you'll do just fine.

Sealed for Freshness

Over at the New World Stages - they're having a Tupperware party every night! The party takes place back in 1968 in a time warp living room full of swanky lamps, a working bar, amber glass ashtrays, shag carpeting, iron railings and brown paneling!! Unfortunately, the best part about the show was the set! Everyone in the audience (yes, unfortunately it was a Saturday night crowd from the suburbs) couldn't stop picking out all the museum pieces that apparently still exist in mom and dad's living room (and talking about it like they were sitting in front of their TV, not at a live theater event!)

I wish more could be said about the play itself... The cast - 5 women from a mid-west suburb - could not be more stereotypical 1968! Bonnie, the host, is upset because her husband who is on his way to bowling night said she didn't look as good as she did 20 years ago (the booze starts flowing after that!); Tracy Ann, the stupid bimbo farm girl from Iowa, had a baby-talk voice that was like nails on a chalk board and after 20 minutes at least 5 people got up and left from the agony of having to listen to her. (I paid $39 for tickets and was going to stick it out to the bitter end no matter how awful it got!); Diane, the Tupperware superstar sales lady, is glamorous on the outside but dead on the inside; and, last, but not least, the "identical opposite" sisters, Jean and Sinclair. Jean is the sister who got all the attention and married rich and Sinclair is the fat, foul mouthed, bitter, booze-hound who has 4 kids and one more on the way (think Roseann Barr).

Now that we have the stage set with this cast of characters - the Tupperware party begins (yes, they really pull out the product and extol its virtues!) and we find out that on the surface all the makeup and polish hides the dirty laundry and ugly truth. Diane's husband didn't die -he left her and she can't have children. Jean's husband is probably cheating on her, Sinclair resents her sister (surprise!) and hates her kids. The ideals are true '60's/'70's with the women questioning if they should have a career or exist to serve their husbands.

It's as if someone sealed away Bonnie's living room in the Tupperware and just opened it up for us all to see today! Unfortunately for us -Tupperware works.

Clean Alternatives

Although they didn't mention recycling or composting - (i could swear they advertised that!), this play was one thing for sure - preachy. You always have to be on guard when you see the playwright also staring in it! At least there's no doubting who Brian Dykstra voted for - (hint, it wasn't Bush). No doubting his convictions and beliefs - gotta give him credit for that.

Held in a very intimate black box theater (theater C at 59E59) the show hammered away at the current political administration, global warming, corporate and personl greed, apathy, and the evil dollar - - hammered, hammered, hammered... (get my point).

I actually didn't hate it, although at times he really did seem to be shoving too many facts down my throat. The play centered around a female, environmentally conscious, concerned citizen who takes money from the evil empire (the corporations) and

tries to use it against them by running for office and delivering her message in Slam Poerty style. Two evil and super intelligent lawyers (oh, they are the scum of the earth) really put the screws to her too!

The story could be shorter, but the message was well delivered. Humorous at times (Mark Boyett was supurb), preachy at others - it's certainly worth the small price for the 2+ hours.

Nobody said theater was all the same - it takes all types to make the world go 'round...