November: a nasty poltical satire that has director J.P. Kelly going for the jugular to produce excellent performances by all!

Steve Martin as Chief of Staff Archer Brown. Photo by David Pasho

This vicious satire of American politics by the author of Oleanna and Speed-the- Plow is one of the high points of the local English language season. It certainly came at the proper time, following as it did on the heels of Obama’s re-election after a very tight race. The play keeps throwing out references to 2008, the year Obama beat George W. Bush at the polls and it seems clear that Mamet felt compelled to vent his anger, his disgust, his frustration and his total disdain for this man who had already spent too many years as the leader of the American people. The portrait is devastating.

Set in David Magladry’s beautiful little box set, this is a tightly constructed play by one of the masters of contemporary American drama. It takes place in President Charles Smith’s Oval office during the election campaign. His rantings about his failing popularity, the plummeting polls and his unwillingness to accept the inevitable, are highlighted by his wife’s constant phone calls (Mamet loves phone calls that interrupt at the worst moments). He obsesses about leaving a “liberry” full of books about his own legacy as President and is infuriated by the absence of his speech writer Bernstein, whom he drags back from her holidays and drills when he needs her to rewrite American history in order to take vengeance on the Turkey breeders of America so that no one will buy their birds. All the while the war in Iraq is raging and Iranian (?) diplomats are trying desperately to get him on the phone. His perverted vision of history is certainly not for the faint of heart but it confirms everything else we learn about this abominable creature.

Todd Duckworth’s magnificent over the top performance makes us squirm, and groan, and even gasp with disbelief. Little by little, Mamet strips this weasel of any decent human attributes, transforming him into an extortionist, a gangster in a three-piece suit who appears irrational but who knows how to manipulate others to get what he wants in spite of the needs of those around him. This is the portrait of a loose cannon who operates according to his own shifting rules, a near buffoon who would be hilarious if he weren’t so dangerous because he flares up in anger over the slightest sign of opposition and attacks his enemy like a ferocious tiger, throwing out insults but also going for the jugular. And his anger is all the more troublesome because it cannot be explained, or treated, or even discussed because the criteria keep shifting  to create this hairy ball of contradictions. This might even be totalitarianism in the making because no one is allowed to express any opposing ideas even though they are told that this IS a democracy!! . Duckworth captures it all by shrinking into the depths of vulgar shamelessness! He is wonderful!

Act ! is essentially a two hander between Duckworth and his Chief of Staff, incarnated by Steve Martin with the slicked down hair and the look of a highly professional political con artist. Martin’s performance was a huge surprise given his former appearances on the Gladstone stage where, as a professional dancer, his body always seemed to take over his characterisation. This time , thanks to John Kelly’s fine direction, Martin’s face is foregrounded and he takes the brunt of all the confused rantings of the President. Martin, draped over the sofa, or standing next to his boss fields all the attacks, facing up to the speech writer Bernstein, as well as to the trembling “turkey man” Tom Charlebois, who tries to defend his colleagues as well as the turkeys, waiting in the outer office. It is all hilarious but there is a good dose of anger that underlies this nasty portrait. There is Martin, his face twisted with exasperation, with embarrassment, even with helplessness as he tries to avoid the near calamities caused by his boss, too often entangled in his own hysterical gibberish.

Also in that second act, Chantale Plante , as the president’s official speech writer , becomes a strong character (Bernstein) who responds to the President with military discipline, almost clicking her heels. She certainly knows how to negotiate her own way around when she is asked to rewrite American history just to please the whim of this silly man. Her unflinching ultimatum seems to bring about a transformation in the President’s vision of the world, the reversal of his decision to finally allow gay marriage is one example of this but still,  we wonder if this isn’t another sign of ambiguity that often leaves its traces on Mamet’s plays.

Also in that scheme of things is the appearance of the impressive Chief Gracle (Bruce Sinclair) asking for Nantucket Island. The President, with all his vicious political vulgarity, stupidity and deep seated racism which he doesn’t even recognize, has already established himself as a most stupid man and no amount of being “nice” can change that impression.  This is just Mamet’s way of demonstrating another form of that man’s highly irrational and unpredictable behaviour, showing that he is never to be trusted because he has no clear vision of his functions as leader of the country. He is a mass of unstable emotions…he can hate an idea at one moment, but defend it a while later! But don’t many politicians function this way when political expediency dictates their decisions? .

Thus speaks Mamet: Politics is a dirty business, engaged in by deeply unstable people who need to feel they are loved!!! They probably mostly need to see a good shrink but they certainly  should not be at the head of a government. Isn’t that what this is all about?

Go see this if you want an evening of harmless but very nasty and pointed fun!!

November by David Mamet plays at the Gladstone until December 8. Call 613-233-4523 for tickets.

Directed by John P.Kelly

A production of Seven Thirty Theatre playing at the Gladstone.

Stage and lighting design : David Magladry

Sound design: Steven Lafond

Costume design: Jody Haucke

CAST:

The President: Todd Duckworth

Chief of Staff Archer Brown Steve Martin

Turkey Man Tom Charlebois

Bernstein Chantale Plante

Chief Dwight Grackle Bruce Sinclair