|
The company that normally produces revivals of seldom seen plays from
roughly the 1930s through the 1960s is now giving us a look at a brand new
play, one written by the author of another new work with which they had
great success. This tense historical drama is by the man who wrote the light
and lively bio-musical of
Danny & Sylvia which
this company premiered in 2001. While John Kennedy was no Danny Kaye and
Nikita Khrushchev was certainly no Sylvia Fine, the two works have much in
common. They are both chronological retellings of actual events constructed
in such a way as to try to discover the "why" behind the "what." This new
play is a fascinating portrayal of the events between 1960 when Soviet Premiere Khrushchev came to
the United States and met the young Senator from Massachusetts, and 1962 when together they found a way to avoid nuclear war in what has become known as
"The Cuban Missile Crisis." It benefits from sensible staging by
Jack Marshall and solid performances by Jon Townson, John Tweel and,
especially, Kim-Scott Miller. Solid contributions also come from Brian
Razzino as Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko and William Aitken as
everybody else (Americans Adlai Stevenson and Curtis LeMay, Russians
Dobrynin and Malinovsky).
|
|
Storyline: The calculations and decisions taken in the Oval Office of
John F. Kennedy and the Kremlin of Nikita Khrushchev reach a climax as the
American President seeks a way to get Soviet missiles off Cuban soil without
triggering nuclear war.
Robert M. McElwaine's script resembles a
scrap book of pictures of key events running from September 1960 to October
1962. It carefully lays the groundwork for understanding the complexities of
the final negotiations, providing the basic information needed in measured
doses. Director Jack Marshall moves these early scenes along briskly so the
audience doesn't loose patience with the piece. Once the crisis has erupted,
the pace accelerates even more. The imposition of an intermission interrupts
that progression, however. It isn't as if the two acts have their own
escalating dramatic arc. It's one continuous story. Besides, without an
intermission, the piece would not be too long for a single sitting.
McElwaine's script attempts to depict
John Kennedy as a man growing into his job as President. In Jon Townson's
hands, Kennedy seems a bit like the politically astute, but governmental
lightweight that Khrushchev first believes him to be. As the events proceed,
however, he becomes more thoughtful, more careful of his words and more
concerned over the consequences of his actions. Because the scenes must
cover so much historical ground, Townson and John Tweel as JFK's brother
Robert, have to deal with some highly concentrated versions of events, as
the Kennedy brothers hover over the Presidential desk with a magnifying
glass examining intelligence photos without benefit of briefing officers, or
when Jack simply announces to Bobby his intention to address the nation -
surely Bobby had been an important player in both the decision to speak out
and the tone of that fateful speech of October 22. While there are times
when his Boston accent seems a bit of a heavy impersonation, there is no
doubt that Townson is absolutely accurate in the recreation of that speech,
right up to the hesitations and tiny mistakes that marked the live delivery
under such highly emotional conditions.
The finest performance of the evening
comes from Kim-Scott Miller who makes this Khrushchev a smart, deeply human,
committed comrade striving with the skill of a survivor to advance the cause
of his country and of the philosophy in which he so strongly believes. The
brink of nuclear confrontation seems a familiar place to him, reminding us
that Khrushchev survived the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, both World
Wars and Stalin - danger was no stranger. His sincere effort to find a way
out of the confrontation that was consistent with his duties and
responsibilities rings true in a performance that won't remind you of any
other time you have seen Miller on this stage. That isn't just because of
his shaved head or his adoption of the stooped posture of the Premiere. It
is pure and simple acting ability.
Written by Robert M. McElwaine. Directed
by Jack Marshall. Design: Trena Weiss-Null (set and properties) Rip Claassen
(costumer) AnnMarie Castrigno (lights) Bill Gordon (sound) Jeffrey Bell
(photography) Rhonda Hill (stage manager). Cast: William Aitken, Kim-Scott
Miller, Brian Razzino, Jon Townson, John Tweel. |
|
September 9 - October 4,
2008
Deathtrap
This tense mystery is more a who-will-do-it than a whodunit. A successful
playwright who fears his writing talent has dried up agrees to help an
unknown youngster with a promising script. Is he more interested in the
script or the young playwright?
November 25, 2008 - January
25, 2009
Harvey
Mary Chase’s classic warm comedy of Elwood P. Doud and his invisible friend,
the six foot, one and a half inch tall pooka rabbit. The production will run
through December 7, 2008 and then take a hiatus until January 8, 2009 while
the theater's holiday show takes the stage.
December 10, 2008 - January 4,
2009
An American Century Christmas
The company builds a holiday revue sampling a century of Christmas songs,
skits and scenes from stage, screen, radio and television.
April 14 - May 9, 2009
Native Son
Bob Bartlett directs a play of racial violence by Paul Green based on
Richard Wright novel that Orson Welles' Mercury Theater presented on
Broadway in 1941.
July 30 - August 22, 2009
Seascape
Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat or Who is Sylvia?)
won his second Pulitzer Prize for this fantasy of a couple who encounter a
pair of people-sized lizards who help them analyze the problems in their own
relationship. |
