"*****" (five out of six stars)... spot-on performances by three character actors at the top of their game... dazzling erudite humor [and] haunting resonance"
Transcript:Kelly Kleiman's "Critic's Pick" on WBEZ's 848 Show
"Never have the multiple meanings of the term "absurd" been on better display than in Theater Oobleck's new play which is called "The Strangerer".
"This represents a head-on collision between Camus' novel about existential meaninglessness and the U.S. Presidential debates.
"And as ludicrous and absurd as that sounds it's also practically the first time I've understood what was going on in American politics this decade. There's John Kerry presented as a sleep walker, I mean literally a sleep walker which of course explains everything about his candidacy, and moderator Jim Lehrer as a clueless, self-satisfied nincompoop.
"And in the middle of it all is George W. Bush played by Guy Massey who is astonishing -- I could not praise him highly enough -- trying to find some meaning and authenticity through completely random acts of violence.
"It is funny, it is beyond brilliant. Don't mistake it for a parody which is what it sounds like, it's the best piece you'll see this year about American politics, the news business, or existentialism."
All of the show-room–floor qualities of The Strangerer—the handsome but pulled-from-stock scenery; the pointed, parody-ripe setting (2004’s Presidential debate narrated by Jim Lehrer); the spot-on performances by three character actors at the top of their game—might make Mickle Maher’s new play look like an SNL lampoon. But don’t get too cozy: The Strangerer is anything but satire as comfort food. Instead, this weird Camus allegory, for all its dazzling erudite humor, has the kind of haunting resonance to which most political theater ascribes but doesn’t have the maturity to summon. In the last decade, President Bush has been easily caricatured as an illiterate despot void of humility. Were he to see this expressionistic, thoughtful and humane permutation of himself (credit Massey with all three), he might be conversely humbled.
Sparked by Bush’s 2006 announcement that he’d read The Stranger during a brief sabbatical, The Strangerer frames the man Molly Ivins dubbed “Shrub” as a murderer experiencing an existential meltdown. (He tells us offhandedly that his mother’s screaming, undead corpse has been keeping him up at night; the coroner, it seems, has yet to take the body away.) Although the play is written in soaring, sorrowful oratorios conveying Bush’s crises of conscience and intellect, Maher’s heady writing can still have a Beckett-like distancing effect—a chilly breeze blows across even the humorous apexes. But as this modest brain-candy fantasia makes a bigger villain of Kerry (portrayed by the bouffant-wigged author as a literal somnambulist), and priceless O’Reilly transforms bloodless, stone-faced Lehrer into a sterling critique of media amorality, the haunting result is far stranger than fiction.—Christopher Piatt
Politics of the Absurd
Theater Oobleck's oddly sympathetic portrayal of George W. Bush By Albert Williams
"MOM DIED TODAY," says President George W. Bush in The Strangerer. "Or yesterday, maybe. Or maybe a few years ago, I don't know. Anyhow she's dead now."
Barbara Bush isn't dead, of course. But her imagined passing is a crucial element in Theater Oobleck's new political satire The Strangerer, which filters Bush through the prism of Albert Camus' 1942 novel The Stranger, envisioning the president as a present-day equivalent of Camus' antihero Mersault. Bush's comment echoes Mersault's famous first line: "Mother died today. Or perhaps it was yesterday."
What does Camus' existential classic -- about a French Algerian who finds meaning in his meaningless life when he goes on trial for killing an Arab -- have to do with 21st-century American politics? Plenty, in this unpredictable, hilarious, and provocative play by Oobleck member Mickle Maher. Set during the 2004 presidential campaign, The Strangerer takes place in Coral Gables, Florida, where Bush and Senator John Kerry faced off in their first debate. The moderator, PBS icon Jim Lehrer, declares his intention to focus on foreign policy and homeland security. But like most political candidates, Bush and Kerry dodge and twist Lehrer's questions to convey their own messages.
The result, like so many televised debates, is an exercise in absurdist theater -- but with a bizarre twist. Instead of simply selling his positions or his leadership, Bush tries to kill Lehrer. On the air, several times, using a knife, a handgun, a pillow, a bottle of cyanide, even a Balinese kris. His attempts to murder the moderator fail as completely as his efforts to export democracy to Iraq. Nonetheless, like Mersault, he knows that what's important is the court of public opinion. So rather than answer questions about his management of the war, he devotes his two-minute statements and 90-second rebuttals to a long, scrupulously detailed account of the events motivating his attempt at homicide: an evening out that included a trip to the theater, where he saw another tale of symbolically charged murder, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Bush's narrative reveals him to be profoundly isolated in a way that's symptomatic of society's emotionally charged political, religious, and cultural schisms. No one really listens to him. Not the intimidated, out-of-touch Democrats or their pompous, pedantic standard-bearer. Not the media establishment Lehrer embodies. And not the audience at the debate or the divided electorate they supposedly represent. "Half of them are listening just to make fun of how I talk," Bush says of the people he's been elected to serve. "Other half always agrees with what I say and so is not listening because they think they know what I am going to say and have already previously agreed. So I'm alone."
Camus' atheist Mersault may seem a peculiar counterpart to the famously born-again Bush. But Maher perceives in both men an uncompromising, perhaps heroic commitment to the truth as they see it, regardless of others' opinions. In The Stranger Mersault is convicted of murder not because he's guilty of the crime (though he is), but because his refusal to weep at his mother's funeral offends public morality. And in The Strangerer Maher satirically exaggerates the stubbornness that makes Bush so controversial: what some see as strength, others deride as a state of denial. Like Mersault, Bush explains his actions and sensations in clinical detail yet remains a mysterious figure, troubling yet strangely admirable -- "the only Christ we deserve," as Camus said of his famous character.
Like Alice's Wonderland, Maher's universe is at once coherent and mad. Ryan Gardner's set, with two lecterns and a desk triangularly arranged on a red carpet, is a slick replica of the stage at the University of Miami convocation center. Bush's attacks on Lehrer are framed by dramatically slow blackouts by lighting designer (and Reader staffer) Martha Bayne and by Chris Schoen's eerie soundscape of softly howling wind and dreamy piano music. Production values aren't usually a high priority in Oobleck shows, but here they're crucial in establishing a credible environment for this politico-philosophical fantasia.
So are the incisive, subtle performances by playwright Maher as a somnolent, stiff-necked Kerry, Colm O'Reilly as a blandly unflappable Lehrer, and Guy Massey, whose Bush is nothing short of brilliant. Massey has the Decider's mannerisms down cold: the odd pauses and arbitrary emphases when he speaks, the heh-heh laugh that sounds simultaneously ingratiating, contemptuous, and paranoid, the wide-eyed, eager-to-please smile that morphs into a mean, squinty grimace. Massey delivers not just an on-target impersonation, however, but a richly detailed portrait of a man on the edge, desperately recounting his actions in the hope of illuminating their meaning.
The Strangerer makes no mention of how Bush squandered his "political capital" after the 2004 election or of his present dismal standing. Yet Maher reminds us that his extreme actions have led to an absurd political agenda that shaped, and still shapes, all our lives. Trying to knock off Jim Lehrer on national television is really no more outrageous than letting loose the dogs of war in the Middle East. And Lehrer and Kerry's ineffectual efforts to react rationally to the president's attempts at murder echo the responses of the press and Democrats to Bush's obvious deception when he first "sold" the Iraq invasion. Bush isn't running for reelection, but both parties' presidential contenders are struggling to define themselves, their past actions,and their visions for the future in the context he created.
Most parodies of Bush turn him into a moron, easy fodder for cheap-shot malaprops on Saturday Night Live and late-night talk shows. But Theater Oobleck takes Bush -- and what he embodies in American society and the human condition -- very seriously. The Strangerer makes the case that Bush may very well be the Christ we deserve.
If Albert Camus truly believed that the only real things are those that we can experience physically, then he would be especially delighted with the joy and laughter provided by Theater Oobleck's bizarrely fascinating "The Strangerer."
Mickle Maher sets his smart and beautifully written work at a 2004 Florida debate between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, moderated by Jim Lehrer. Diligently, President Bush tries to discover the proper manner in which to murder Lehrer throughout the piece. In a variety of inventive ways, the piece explores the unnecessary murder of innocents and the strange doubletalk and blurred reasoning of the government.
With powerful, on-spot performances, the show also explores the despair and confusion that our politicians deal with on a daily basis. One of the most powerful moments occurs as Maher, portraying Kerry, wraps thing up by describing a dark spot where no one would be listening to him. He concludes that this non-judgmental place must be "heaven."
As Bush, Guy Massey delivers the famous ticks, blank expressions and expected lingual errors. With comic precision, he also lets us glimpse a desperate, lonely soul. Like any good Camus character, Massey's Bush tries vigilantly to arrive at some purpose my making it up on his own. He stumbles, manically recovers and them stumbles again. This Bush is a theater-obsessed, mother-haunted delight and Massey's performance is simply a marvel.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Maher's Kerry is a blank, emotionless cipher. Ina delightful haunting monotone he delivers surprising truths about the world's state and Bush's reign. Meanwhile, Colm O'Reilly is a spot-on Jim Lehrer. He remains essentially nonplussed as Bush tries to shoot him, gullet him or smother him with a pillow. A bit of pride sneaks into his voice as he describes his knife collection or his obsessive rehearsal techniques. In fact, O'Reilly is full of subtle twists that elevate his portrayal far beyond a simple impression. That O'Reilly and his co-stars deliver these performances without permanent directing assistance, a Theater Oobleck tradition, is a tribute to their talent and intuitive nature.
As in any good theater, one leaves "The Strangerer" contemplating our own lives. We chuckle and grin, but wonder if we are rendering our own lives meaningless by not taking a closer look at the information that we are being fed. Perhaps with assistance of theater such as "The Strangerer" we can grow, eventually proving Camus' famous theories to be wrong. - Brian Kirst
For its latest premiere, Theater Oobleck meshes several works by French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus and his absurdist style with the setting of a George Bush and John Kerry presidential debate asking the question, “Why does our president want to kill a lot of innocent people?” If you aren’t aware of Theater Oobleck’s working methods, it is an 18-year-old company dedicated to producing and performing original works of theater at low or no cost to audiences. It has three overriding principles that define it: New works;. no director; free if you’re broke. Its works have been praised not only by Chicago press and audiences but also national and international constituents as well.
I believe this was my first experience with an Oobleck piece in the 11-plus years of reviewing, and if “The Strangerer” is any indication of what I’ve missed I’m damn sorry. As a member of the press, I have an extra added benefit of reading about the process as described in the company’s press release. It should be noted in the program somewhere, because the process of constructing this hilarious and intellectually pointed piece is as compelling as the final product.
Writer Mickle Maher (who also delivers a smart turn as the practically comatose Kerry) was inspired to find that one of the books on President’s Bush’s 2006 vacation reading list was Albert Camus’ absurdist tale of senseless murder, The Stranger. This fact alone not only sets Maher’s mind in motion to conceive a smartly crafted, tautly produced work that questions the irrationality of our president’s action with the Iraq war but also questions if our president can even comprehend the theoretical, truth-seeking mind of Camus. While watching Oobleck’s work, not only was I intrigued by the production set forth as the Bush (Guy Massey) character struggled with his main action of attempting to kill the famed PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer (a terrifically deadpanned performance by Colm O’Reilly) but also comically thinking about the real Bush attempting to understand Camus. Perhaps our bumbling and idiotic tending president really has scholarly ambitions. I doubt that; so does Maher, as he acknowledges, “Trying to say something smart about Bush is monumentally frustrating.”
Maher begins his action quite formally on the setting of presidential debate -- a moderator’s desk with microphone sits downstage center with two podiums upstage left and right respectively. Lehrer sets the deliberation in motion by asking Kerry is he could do a better job of preventing a 911 attack then President Bush. From there the formality of debate is thrown out, though Lehrer continues to attempt the format, as Bush tries to kill the moderator, rather obsessed with creating the perfect killing complete with theatrical blackout and mood-inducing music and sounds. He tries over and over with a knife, gun and poison, and pulls other numerous devices from beneath his podium including a hammer and noose.
Mahler also layers and questions the power of theatre and the makings of a mystery within his absurdist, politically-themed styling. As a through line, Bush and Kerry discuss their previous evening’s experience of attending a play together and get caught up in not only the construction of theatre itself but its purpose as an art form. When you discover they saw Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe,” it’s all the more potent. By the end, Bush doesn’t accomplish what he sets out to do and exits with defeated frustration as Kerry remains oblivious to it all and Lehrer finishes just another day at the office.
Massey delivers a bravado performance as our country’s leader, conceiving a character more charismatic and likable than the man himself. He has mastered Bush’s delivery style, his famed dramatic speaking pauses and his rather hardened outward, internally vapid expression. Massey’s performance goes above and beyond an impersonation. He invests much complexity, subtlety, humanity and soul into what would likely been a parody in the hands of a lesser accomplished actor. Feeling crushed, bewildered and alone he turns to the audience for his support and we are right there for him. (****) -- Tim Sauers
The Strangerer
An inevitable and completely obvious pairing of the 2004 Presidential Debates with the Absurdist philosophical works of Albert Camus. By Reina Hardy
"Brilliant" is a word to avoid. For one thing, it's generally an overstatement. Worse, it's worn out, robbed of its singularity by years of careless use. You might as well say "double plus good." But "The Strangerer," a new play from Theatre Oobleck, has in its double plus goodness such peculiar qualities (lightness, hardness, endless facets) that it could tempt that old word out of retirement. "Brilliant" should make you think of a gem—something that shines through cutting. "The Strangerer" is practically all sharp edge.
Set at the 2004 Presidential Foreign Policy debate, the play stars an unfailingly professional Jim Lehrer (Colm O'Reilly), a somnambulant John Kerry (playwright Mickle Maher) and this century's great absurdist anti-hero, George Bush (Guy Massey in a constant sweat.) Bush, who famously read a little Camus on vacation last year, has been conflated with the main character of The Stranger. He is in full-blown existential crisis, whole chapters of bleak French philosophy chopped in with his usual word salad. And, for reasons that he is immable to enticulate, he has decided to kill Jim Lehrer on national TV.
Massey is remarkable as Bush, combining a celebrity impression that wouldn't shame a network sketch show with wild-eye, fully committed, crazy-person acting. The president's ticks and twitches are there, along with the monkeyish "pensive" look and the snigger. Yet Massey throws himself at the part as if he's playing Raskalnikov. It's grievously funny, but it's no cheap shot.
As the Democratic nominee, Maher is bland smug, and nearly immobile (he also has the little Kerry smile down flat). He wants the public to know that he is fully committed to murdering Jim Lehrer, but takes issue with the President's choice of time and place. O'Reilly, an actor blessed with a consuming physical presence, underplays Jim Lehrer beautifully. It seems natural, in a dream-like way, for this man to continue moderating a debate that has dispensed with the "why" and "if" of his own murder, and proceeded straight to the "how."
The metaphor here is obvious, but in Maher's script it is neither heavy nor pat. Maher is a dexterous writer, and his scripts tend to have an unusual non-linearity. Instead of journeys, his characters make repeated sallies towards a single point, different approaches to an indefinable idea or moment. A graph of "The Strangerer" would look less like a hill with a climax on top than a poorly drawn flower with something unknown at the center. At the end of this freakish, perfect, hilarious play, it will seem as if the three people on stage have hardly moved or changed. But something will have happened to you.
I met my lover and some dear friends tonight for cocktails, all abuzz from last night’s production. When I told the name of the play my friend Star said, “You mean ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus?” “Well, yes and no.” I answered. ‘The Stranger,’ a classic absurdist novel that tells of senseless murder, was on Bush’s 2006 vacation reading list. This inspired playwright Mickle Maher to examine the president through the absurdist world of Camus’s writing and the result is a hysterically wonderful example of theater’s most exigent possibilities.
I came away from Theater Oobleck’s production of ‘The Strangerer’ asking a question that I don’t think I’ve ever asked before in the hundreds of plays that I have reviewed. Where is playwright Mickle Maher’s Pulitzer Prize? This question was as urgent as the underlying message of Maher’s deceptively profound script.
There have been countless depictions of George W. Bush’s ineptitude and arrogance. If there is one thing that he has done right, and this is just about the only thing that can be said for him on a positive note, it is that he has provided more fuel for humor and parody than any president in the last several decades. But it has become cliché to mock Bush, too easy, too obvious. The idiosyncratic absurdities of his mannerisms and his infantile grasp of the English language have been fodder for seasoned satirists, novice stand-up comedians and everyday people alike. So what makes ‘The Strangerer’ more than just another exceptional vehicle for dead on impersonation?… The fact that it nails perhaps the most terrifying aspect of Bush’s reign of terror by illuminating the blatant and surreal disregard for human life that he has displayed.
As we complain on a daily basis about the rising cost of gas, (rapidly approaching what is tantamount to a Kruggerand a gallon) observe America’s standings in the world reduced to a joke, cringe every time a presidential address is babbled by a man who’s communication style consists of self congratulatory grins after successful completions of multi syllabic words, and struggle with the plethora of daily domestic and international foibles of the current administration we loose sight of the very real and frightening fact that our country is being run by a murderer.
We can calculate the decline of the economy. We can calculate the damage to the environment. We can calculate the devastation of foreign diplomatic credibility. But we cannot begin to calculate the toll this administration has taken in human life and human suffering. The implications are exponential, staggering and embody a lethal chaos theory. That is to say that all of the other maladies perpetuated by George W. Bush, and you can include many people in the debauchery but the buck stops with the commander in chief, are simply smoke screens to this administrator of mass destruction.
The setting for ‘The Strangerer’ is the first Bush/Kerry presidential debate in 2004. It starts out appearing to be a straightforward recreation but rapidly descends into madness as Bush repeatedly tries different methods of killing moderator Jim Lehrer. The question is not why an innocent man should be killed but rather what is the proper manner in which to go about killing him.
Colm O’Reilly’s remarkable portrayal of Jim Lehrer is spot on and sets a very controlled and structured opening tone. Mickle Maher’s performance of Kerry is hysterically vapid and astutely illustrative of his under enthusiasm and compliance to the political status quo. But it is Guy Massey that elevates the, already ingenious, material to extraordinarily astounding levels. He approaches what could be a trap of obvious characterization and impersonation with a 190 actors IQ and creates a tour de force that is as breathtaking as the writing that he is animating. His performance will go down in the annals of best performances that you have ever seen. This is an exceptional ensemble that delivers this show with a unified vision and unwavering focus. They are clever, tight, spellbinding and at times side splittingly funny.
You will be hard pressed to locate a production that even approaches the accomplishments of this show, much less can be included in it’s league. In examining a cross section of absurdity, ethics and theater Maher has created quite possibly the most brilliant political polemic you will ever see and something that is amazingly entertaining.
To miss this show is to miss a unique and incredible opportunity. This is why Chicago theater is incomparable. (****)
