Wayne LeGette, left, and Michael Edwards star in David Mamet's new comedy, November, June 9-July 4 at American Stage Theatre Company.
Here’s a shocker: A lot of people are unsatisfied with the way politicians are running the country.
A new area production capitalizes on the prevailing public indignation toward governmental affairs, crafting a clever, wickedly witty satire.
American Stage Theatre Company’s production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet’s comedy “November” runs through Sunday, July 4, at the Raymond James Theatre, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg.
Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Matinees are Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m. Ticket prices range from $26 to $45. Call 823-7529 or visit www.americanstage.org.
Novelist Philip Roth defines satire as “moral outrage transformed into comic art.” If moral outrage provides the fountainhead, there’s no better place than Washington, D.C., to look for an abundant source.
In Mamet’s play, President Charles Smith exhibits all of the worst characteristics Americans have come to expect from a reigning Commander-in-chief, from harboring closet ethnocentrism to committing extortion to raise campaign funds. Mamet has tapped into the nation’s collective frustration and exploited it to create a caustic, uproarious caricature of the highest office in the land.
Shrewdly, Mamet never lets slip which party Smith represents. Actually, the character possesses qualities from several former presidents from both ends of the political spectrum.
As the play opens, Smith discovers late in the game that he lacks the funds to campaign for re-election. In fact, he can’t even afford to build a legacy-ensuring library. He immediately begins concocting schemes with his adviser, Archer Brown, eventually involving his reluctant speech writer, Clarice Bernstein.
The convoluted plot that emerges involves shaking down the turkey industry, haggling with Native Americans over land for casinos and televising a lesbian wedding in the White House.
Playing the president is Michael Edwards. Edwards takes Mamet’s cartoon sketch of an odious and unpleasant president and effectively illustrates the conflicting aspects of his personality. It’s easy, after all, to show Smith as a crooked and corrupt president; it’s more difficult to insinuate his vulnerability and suggest that there may be a shadow of graciousness left untainted by power.
Wayne LeGette portrays the straight man Brown wonderfully, punctuating Edwards’ verbose diatribes with acerbic observations that either serve to curtail the president’s ploys or reinforce his increasingly madcap proposals. LeGette’s timing makes him a flawless foil.
Sarah Gavitt’s performance as Bernstein is equally entertaining. When her character first appears, she is suffering from jet lag and a possible case of bird flu (having recently visited China to adopt a child). As the president and his adviser conspire, Gavitt gets to intersperse sniffles, sneezes and catnaps.
Chris Rutherford brings to the stage the turkey industry representative in a parody of middle management uselessness and corporate culpability.
Rutherford’s performance is enhanced by a certain slapstick vitality that adds another dimension of absurdity to the play. Likewise, Giles Davies, playing Native American Dwight Grackle, delivers an over-the-top, physical performance that gives the third act an adrenaline shot and pays off in a windfall of laughter.
“November” differs from other Mamet plays in that it is more jaunty in its cynicism – it’s Mamet Lite. That said, “November” does have two important components potential audience members should bear in mind.
First, it is laced with adult language. Those who try to count the number of times the F-bomb is dropped will run out of fingers and toes early in the first act.
Second, political incorrectness reigns in “November.” Mamet’s President Smith is an equal opportunity offender, denigrating everyone from Native Americans and immigrants to the Israelis and Chinese.
For those who can shrug off those factors easily, “November” offers an indispensable opportunity to peel away the bleakness and intolerance surrounding the country’s political stagnation to reveal the ridiculousness of the situation.
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