Posted: 9/20/19 at 12:10am
i thought this was really horrible.
a fast paced history drama centering on LBJ should be right up my alley. and the ability to cover so many different stories so accurately (and fairly) is laudable. the projections were cool.
but dear god: the play launches from episode to episode with no break, so it feels like the Vietnam War was launched during a meeting with MLK as the same time as LBJ was launching Medicare. the writing is absolutely atrocious: the person behind me loudly said "this sounds like someone from high school wrote it" and she nailed it. its like someone assigned the drama club six chapters of their American History Textbook.
There is ZERO insight into LBJ, or the other politicians. Most of the play consists of them all explaining historical context to each other. LBJ telling his wife about WWII. The Vice President relaying the background of every single scene for our benefit. The marches on/near Selma are described to LBJ by the Vice President, so we get a narrative telling about the actors standing in the middle of the stage.I was simply STUNNED at how poorly this was done. (the writing- the production/staging was fine and at times moving).
The only time the play lifts off at all is during the scenes centering on MLK, Grantham Coleman was phenomenal, and gave MLK depth. I wanted the story to stay with him the whole time. Bryce Pinkham was also phenomenal in his small role as RFK. (Both characters disappear completely without any explanation re their assassinations until well after the fact, when both give beautifully done monologues reminding how much we missed them, in life and in this play).
The rest of the cast is totally wasted. Frank Wood plays 43 different people and seems embarrassed to be there. Kudisch pops up here and there to bluster. Richard Thomas is a wooden plant. He plays the fascinating VP Humphrey but he isnt given anything to say except to make moral pronouncements here and there. The dialogue given to him (and Lady Bird) made me wince.
But the real shocking disappointing here is Brian Cox, a brilliant actor with other worldly stamina. Setting aside that his LBJ had a slight Southern accent that continuously slipped into a Scottish brogue, Cox opens the play screaming and never stops. He bellows and yells and shouts the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. He is never given a break, and there is zero dimension to the character. If LBJ is conflicted, he shouts both sides of the issue to himself. He calls Nixon a "son of a bitch!" out of nowhere. Vietnam? Hes angry about all of it, and we are subjected to continuous reports from military men narrating the war as LBJ reacts with frustration. It was just painful and again, I am a Cox fan. I dont know what the hell happened here.
and despite all this, i was mostly not bored. the history is so fascinating, the stories so compelling, that at least until the end, it plodded along. but i dont know who this would appeal to: history nerds/buffs will be bothered by the recitations, and those not interested in the subject will want to walk out (and our row emptied out during intermission).
swing and a big miss.
