THE RIOT OF
WHITE-HOUSE SHENANIGANS
By Georgia Rowe
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area theater,
music
and dance
Week of Oct.. 6-13, 2009
Vol.
12, No. 32
In “November,” the President is
on
the way out. His first term has been a
disaster, his approval ratings have hit bottom, and party headquarters
is
pulling the plug on his bid for re-election.
Sequestered in the Oval Office, he makes a desperate plea to his
chief
of staff. “What is it about me people
don’t like?” he asks. The answer: “That
you’re still here.”
Deliciously funny and pointedly
topical, David Mamet’s 2008 political comedy, playing at the American
Conservatory Theater through November 22, touches on many of the
hot-button
issues of the day: gay marriage, big-bucks lobbyists, minority rights
and the
torture of political prisoners (here, they’re transported to Bulgaria
on a
“piggy plane” supplied by the pork industry.)
And the playwright’s portrait of fictional President Charles
Smith
brings to mind more than one national figure torpedoed by scandal; in a
nice
touch, the pre-show admonition to silence cell phones and unwrap
candies is
delivered by the recorded voice of former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
Beneath the
current references,
though, “November” is a fairly straightforward farce, with doors
slamming,
phones ringing and laughs cued at well-timed intervals.
This isn’t a masterpiece on the scale of
early Mamet works such as “American Buffalo” or “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Still, even lesser Mamet is smart and
incisive, and the pleasure of “November” is watching the political
machinations
at work. Smith may be down as the play
begins, but as any seasoned politico knows, it’s not over till it’s
over.
Directed by
Ron Lagomarsino, ACT’s
cast – performing on Erik Flatmo’s perfectly crafted Oval Office set –
brings
the show to life with consummate skill.
Andrew Polk is especially inspired as the paranoid,
self-absorbed Smith,
who can’t remember his own Vice President’s name and lashes out at his
enemies
with the words no one wants to hear: “Call the IRS and have him audited
back to
the day he was born.” Anthony Fusco
gives a wry, agile performance as the weary, seen-it-all chief of
staff, and
Rene Augesen is delightful as the lesbian speechwriter who wants to
marry her
girlfriend at a national press conference with the president presiding. Manoel Felciano assumes an amusingly geeky
demeanor (and an exceedingly bad hairpiece) as a lobbyist for the
National
Association of Turkey and Turkey By-Products Manufacturers. Steven Anthony Jones turns up the heat as a
Native American who’s been dissed by the President.
Like most
elections, this
“November” doesn’t yield upsets, or even big surprises.
But anyone who’s ever wanted to be a fly on
the wall of the Oval Office will find it irresistible.
“November” plays through Nov. 22
at the Geary Theater, San Francisco. 1 hour, 45 minutes, with
intermission. Tickets at 415-749-2228, or go online.
©Georgia Rowe 2009
#
Georgia Rowe is a Bay Area arts
writer. Her work has appeared in Opera News, the San Francisco
Examiner, the San Jose Mercury News, the Classical Voice, California
magazine and the Contra Costa Times in
addition to artssf.com.
These critiques appearing several times weekly focus on dance and new
musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local
artists as well.
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