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Regional Reviews: Los Angeles Bedfellows
Here's the set-up: Sanford Mitchell, a successful two-time mayor of Los Angeles, is a few days away from a landslide win in the California gubernatorial election. He's a well-liked former college football hero who pulled himself out of poverty and made a political career out of saving impoverished communities from developers who would destroy them. (At least, I think that's his main political accomplishment—it's the only substantive thing he talks about. Mitchell's political speeches are heavy on ideals and largely devoid of any actual position on an issue of the day; at times, I couldn't decide whether playwright Rose was attempting to emulate stump speeches or mock them.) Sanford is a proud card-carrying liberal and, even though Rose seems to go out of his way to never mention actual political parties, it's pretty clear on which side of the aisle Sanford sits. When giving a live webcast interview, Sanford is challenged by one George Snyder, who interrupts the interview to accuse Sanford of corruption and demand an interview of his own. Everyone on Sanford's campaign (and everyone in the audience) thinks this is a very bad idea. Snyder (in a nice performance by Jordan Lund) presents himself to Sanford with a smooth urbane exterior through which malevolence clearly peeks. A little bit of research discloses that he has a reputation as something of a fixer (for the other side), and Sanford's team wants Sanford to stay well away. Sanford doesn't, and decides to give the interview. What's nice about the way Sanford is written (and performed by Thomas Vincent Kelly) is that you can't tell whether he's so good and so naïve that he actually believes Snyder cannot harm him, or if, instead, there are very deep calculations motivating his every move. What is frustrating about the play is that, as it turns out, whether Sanford gives Snyder the interview is completely irrelevant. Snyder, as we've expected since he first set foot on stage, intends to blackmail Sanford (thus, once he gets the interview, he demands that everyone else leave the room—something else which should raise serious red flags); but he could get his opportunity to blackmail Sanford any number of ways were the interview request denied. So, the first act is leading up to the revelation of what Snyder has on Sanford, and it doesn't disappoint. It's a tape; there is no question that Sanford is on it; and just a few seconds of the tape are enough to demonstrate that it would completely destroy Sanford's political career if publicly revealed. (I applaud Rose here, for coming up with something so compact and yet so absolutely destructive. It makes one consider just how frail a politician's position really is.) What's missing, though, is any actual blackmail. Snyder gives Sanford a choice: drop out of the race, or the tape gets released. It is, in a lot of ways, no choice at all; either way, Sanford will not be Governor. The second act, obviously, is about what Sanford decides to do. (His first thought is to find something on Snyder, which makes no sense at all. Snyder isn't in the public eye—unless Sanford happens to find something that would actually send Snyder to prison, undermining Snyder publicly won't stop the tape or lessen its impact.) As we watch Sanford try to figure out how to handle Snyder's threat (and the imminent destruction of his political future), only one scene really stands out as going beyond the routine. Sanford visits Nadine, a former colleague. He never really tells her (or us) why he is there, but thinking about what he might have been seeking, and what she reveals about their past, may be the truest glimpse we get into who Sanford actually is. Beyond that, though, the play, sadly, is largely routine. You've got a protagonist with a choice between two very lousy alternatives, who, of course, tries to come up with a better option. What will he try? Will he somehow win the election anyway? That's about all there is to it. I feel compelled to add another comment, which is that there is something particularly annoying about the female characters in this play. Of the three members of Sanford's staff we meet, only the volunteer coordinator (not the campaign manager or chief of staff) is a woman, and she is unable to have a conversation with Sanford without interpreting it as flirtation. Nadine, the former colleague, was also Sanford's lover. And Madeleine, the owner of a website that is (supposedly) a legitimate force in California politics, begins her webcast with Sanford by asking several inappropriate questions about his ass. It frustrates that, in 2012, a play about politics cannot have even one of its female characters play a legitimate campaign, social justice, or journalistic role without sex somehow being involved. Certainly, every player in this game has their own interests, but it cheapens the play when all the men's interests are political and the women's are not. Bedfellows runs through June 2, 2012 at the McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets, see www.NewAmericanTheatre.com The New American Theatre (formerly Circus Theatricals) presents Bedfellows by Chuck Rose. Produced by Jack Stehlin and Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin. Directed by Jack Stehlin. Scenic Design Dennis Jackson; Costume Design Kitty Rose; Lighting Design Noah Silverstein; Sound Design Ron Klier; Stage Manager Tommy F. Dunn. Cast:
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