An Oregon Shakespeare Festival presentation, in association with Berkeley Repertory Theater, of two plays by David Edgar, "Daughters of the Revolution" and "Mothers Against." Directed by Tony Taccone.
"Mothers Against"
Sheldon Vine - Bill Geisslinger
Connie Vine - Robynn Rodriguez
Deborah Vine - Christine Williams
Mitch Vine - Tony DeBruno
Don D'Avanzo - Michael Elich
Vincent Baptiste - Derrick Lee Weeden
Lorianne Weiner - Susannah Schulman
Caryl Marquez - Vilma Silva
"Daughters of the American Revolution"
With: Mark Murphey, Catherine Lynn Davis, Mirron E. Willis, Christine Williams, Catherine E. Coulson, Bill Geisslinger, Robynn Rodriguez, Michael Elich, Nell Geisslinger, Tony DeBruno, James Ingersoll, Linda Alper, Demetra Pittman, Richard Elmore, Susannah Schulman, Derrick Lee Weeden, Vilma Silva, S.A. Rogers, Matt McTighe
David Edgar's "Continental Divide," a two-play cycle that displays a panoramic view of U.S. politics by dissecting the two sides of a gubernatorial campaign, provides nearly six hours' worth of brainy drama that easily could take twice that long to recount, so densely packed is its dramatic structure and so sweeping are its concerns. It's an impressive achievement, driven by an insatiable intellect and intricate craftsmanship, but it is also unquestionably flawed, and one of the plays is not especially pleasurable viewing.
Edgar throws in one plot after another, each event freighted with social, political and philosophical implications requiring analysis and interpretation, which the characters, each representing different points of view, are happy to provide. It's all highly contrived, and ultra-cerebral, but to suggest that as a fault of Edgar's writing is like criticizing sugar for being too sweet, or politics for being ugly.
Edgar is a British playwright best known in the U.S. for his 1980s epic version of "Nicholas Nickleby" and, more recently, for "Pentecost," a dissection of post-Cold War European cross-currents that's been produced at several regional theaters. Among those are the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Berkeley Rep, the entities that commissioned Edgar to bring his ultra-heady brand of playwriting to an American subject. Berkeley artistic director Tony Taccone ably directs both plays, which are cast with members of Oregon Shakespeare's company. The project is a nice reminder that American theaters can do big projects on meaningful topics, and even if "Continental Divide" is not a perfect offering, it's undoubtedly a rich and worthy one.
That said, one of the two plays, "Daughters of the Revolution," is pretty grating. It's the Democratic side of the ballot, and Edgar's approach is oblique. The central figure, a community college dean named Michael Bern (Mark Murphey), is not directly connected to the campaign for governor in this unnamed western state. In the opening scene, Michael is given, as a present on his 55th birthday, the FBI file recounting his days as a '60s radical. Among the exploits it notes is a plan, never put into action, to kidnap a politician's daughter and exchange her for an unjustly jailed Black Panther. Seeing this in his file, Michael realizes he was betrayed by a comrade, an event he now realizes directly led to the crashing of his career, a divorce and estrangement from his son.
Michael sets about to discover his betrayer, although what he hopes to accomplish in doing so Edgar can never quite express. It's simply a vague means of "coming to terms with" his past or, in other words, a plot device. It allows the playwright to examine the battle between idealism and cynicism that defines Democratic politics by engaging in a meaty round of "Whatever Happened to the '60s Radicals?"
As we discover, some of them cling to their ideals (a longtime fugitive who has found refuge with some actual tree-huggers), while others have done an about-face (the political writer who is now a right-wing Orthodox Jew). Most important, there's Blair Lowe (Linda Alper), who is running the gubernatorial campaign of Democratic candidate Rebecca McKeene (Demetra Pittman), herself a former anti-Vietnam War activist who has learned how to win elections by reversing her positions on big issues like the death penalty.
Edgar has a strong understanding of the forces governing U.S. politics, particularly the way candidates ultimately are compelled to choose between expressing their real views and being elected. Michael's search for an elusive truth about his past leads him directly into the heart of the current campaign between McKeene and economic conservative Sheldon Vine, a campaign that would seem to present a distinct difference of ideas about the role of government but has instead been hijacked by a highly symbolic ballot proposition.
The proposition, an essential element of both plays, requires that candidates, as well as new and re-registering voters, swear to observe all laws and to proclaim that they are not "a member or supporter of any organization which pursues its ends by force." The proposition is popular, and McKeene is working hard not to take a stand, even though she, and pretty much everyone else, thinks it's a bad thing.
The problem with "Daughters," what makes it a deeply flawed -- if still fascinating -- piece of drama, is that Michael remains a cipher almost until the end. The scope of the play is enormous -- the 19 actors portray something like 50 characters -- but with an ultra-passive core, the play's swirling investigation of the history of the New Left drags quite severely, despite Taccone's torrid pace. In essence, Edgar has created an epic mystery where the detective is a dud.
The cleverly titled "Mothers Against" is a much superior play, even though it's far more traditional. At heart, it's a family play. It is ironic, and revealing, that in bringing English dramaturgy to an American subject, Edgar has ended up writing a family drama, a form that has dominated the most significant American theater. "Mothers" is a much more focused play, and in presenting fewer characters, Edgar allows them to become more than just mouthpieces.
Sheldon Vine (Bill Geisslinger) is the Republican candidate for governor. His father was a prominent senator who managed to balance the varying factions within the Republican party, divided mostly between economic and social conservatives, as well as running the family logging business with a keen sense of environmental balance.
"Mothers" takes place at the Vine's family gathering place, mostly over a single weekend about a month before the election. Sheldon has been closing on McKeene in the polls, partly because nobody really knows what he actually believes and therefore they think he must agree with them. But with the first debate imminent, Sheldon will have to say something, and folks gather to prep him.
Present to debate various issues are Latina pollster Caryl Marquez (Vilma Silva); African-American political analyst Vincent Baptiste (Derrick Lee Weeden, in a particularly strong perf), who just happens to be, natch, the twin brother of the leftist community organizer in "Daughters"; and sexy conservative cable "pundette" Lorianne Weiner (Susannah Schulman, in a perf that's showy but inadequate), who's there to "play" the opponent in the mock debate. There's also Sheldon's wife, Connie (played with wonderfully controlled chilliness by Robynn Rodriguez), and their rebellious daughter, Deborah (Christine Williams).
Edgar does a better job of giving the Republicans a real voice, a strange circumstance considering the playwright's own political leanings. Sheldon may, as his brother jokes, "want to sell the Board of Education to McDonald's," but at least he believes in something and is willing to take the consequences of campaigning on it. Edgar skirts the abortion issue, and he never gets to the heart of the gun issue. But, in this play, at least, the audience is allowed entry into genuine human relationships that illuminate the politics and make them significantly more interesting. The characters may still be stereotypes, but that's an improvement on the ones in "Daughters," who are cliches.
Edgar caps off his plot intricacies with a playwriting flourish that doesn't succeed, but might be fixed before the show lands in Berkeley in the fall. He tries to make it so that auds only know who wins the election if they've seen both plays and puzzled it out. Right now, the denouement is pretty confounding.
There remains the ultimate question of whether the plays give us a real map of the U.S. political landscape or simply the illusion of one. I suspect the latter -- it's hardly insightful to point out that our politics is weighted with interest groups, symbolic distractions, media manipulation and cynicism. But other viewers may find more implications and connections. The play is like a jigsaw puzzle that, when completed, may provide more satisfaction for the viewer who looks at how all the little fragments fit together rather than those who spend time examining the still-blurry big picture.
Set, William Bloodgood; costumes, Deborah M. Dryden; lighting, Alexander V. Nichols; sound, Jeremy J. Lee; dramaturgs, Douglas Langworthy, Lue Morgan Douthit, Luan Schooler; stage managers, Kimberly Jean Barry ("Daughters"), Jill Rendall ("Mothers"). Opened March 1, 2003. Reviewed March 14 and 15. Running times: 2 HOURS, 55 MIN. ("Daughters"); 2 HOURS, 45 MIN. ("Mothers").
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Date in print: Fri., Mar. 21, 2003