Conservative Drama
Full disclosure: I am a flaming liberal. I’m even almost a militant liberal, as I am not one of those willing any more to say "Oh, live and let live" to the far right. Personal reasons; they threaten my lifestyle and that of my family, and frankly, anyone who wants to take freedom away from my daughters will have my enmity…but I digress.
In theatre, and tv, of course, the liberal media rules. The West Wing had a great president (liberal) so did Commander in Chief, and even if they paid lip service to conservatism here and there, they really didn’t tackle the reality that is hard for me to accept as well:
Some conservatives are nice. Are real people, that don’t want to burn my lesbian daughter at the stake, and they have stories worth telling as well.
Apparently some new shows on TV explore that. Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" , for example, has Harriet Hayes, a character who is more than just a comedic foil. She’s apparently building into a sympathetic character.
However, on Broadway, the conservatives aren’t doing so well. Plays like "Bush is Bad" (something like Snakes on a Plane in terms of descriptive titles) are packed, and more than usual political theatre, some of the pieces are garnering critical acclaim. Admittedly, the play that is called the "Keeper" in this article is about Nixon, not Bush; but still…
…is the corollary that political theater can last only if it’s built on the shoulders of big characters like Nixon, that theater pegged to some timely issue is doomed to date quickly? Allan Buchman, artistic director of the Culture Project, doesn’t think so.
“I wish we were worried about whether these things have a shelf life,” he said; instead, he said, he fears that issues like torture and government surveillance will come around again and again.
Sad. But probably true.
Tags: bush, studio 60 on the sunset strip, politics, drama, broadway, aaron sorkin
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