Election standoff in 'The Best Man"
Aurora Theatre play digs into political trickery
Joe Kempkes
Issue date: 9/4/08 Last update: 9/5/08 at 10:40 PM PST
Section: Sports
Aurora Theatre's current production, director Gore Vidal's "The Best Man," investigates the roles that ethics and personal vision play in American politics. Because it premiered in Aurora Theatre on the 45th Anniversary of the March on Washington and also the same night that Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, the audience was offered a historic context with which to view and interpret the production.
Senator Joe Cantwell (Tim Kniffin) is an ambitious politician who will stop at nothing to get elected to the White House. When he discovers that his opponent had an undisclosed psychological problem, he threatens to turn this information over to the media.
Secretary William Russell (Charles Shaw Robinson), his extramarital affairs aside, is more of a statesman than a politician who finds it hard to believe that Cantwell would resort to dirty tricks.
President Arthur Hockstader (Charles Dean) is a crusty, old school politician who is unsure who to throw his support to. He likes Cantwell's ambition, but also is attracted to Russell's integrity.
Vidal wrote "The Best Man" when JFK was campaigning for President in 1960. He gave a draft to Kennedy, who thought that the philandering character, Russell, might be based on him. He asked Jackie and she said "no," proving that the wife is always the last to know.
The production's plot thickens when Russell gets some dirt on Cantwell and there's a standoff. Cantwell offers Russell an out: Let's both drop our dirt. Russell doesn't agree to that and Hockstader throws his support to Cantwell. All three actors give uniformly outstanding performances.
Vidal wrote "The Best Man" as a primer on "how to play the Washington game." The candidates, the supporters, the media and everyone else involved with the 1960 campaigns were of European descent. Their racial background clearly reflect where the power in federal government resided.
Now, with 50 years of hindsight, we have the historical perspective to see beyond the rules of the old "game." The March on Washington and the arrival of America's first Black presidential candidate amount to an indictment of institutional racism that had characterized American politics for generations.
"The Best Man" plays at Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley through Sept. 28. For more information, go to www.auroratheatre.org.
Senator Joe Cantwell (Tim Kniffin) is an ambitious politician who will stop at nothing to get elected to the White House. When he discovers that his opponent had an undisclosed psychological problem, he threatens to turn this information over to the media.
Secretary William Russell (Charles Shaw Robinson), his extramarital affairs aside, is more of a statesman than a politician who finds it hard to believe that Cantwell would resort to dirty tricks.
President Arthur Hockstader (Charles Dean) is a crusty, old school politician who is unsure who to throw his support to. He likes Cantwell's ambition, but also is attracted to Russell's integrity.
Vidal wrote "The Best Man" when JFK was campaigning for President in 1960. He gave a draft to Kennedy, who thought that the philandering character, Russell, might be based on him. He asked Jackie and she said "no," proving that the wife is always the last to know.
The production's plot thickens when Russell gets some dirt on Cantwell and there's a standoff. Cantwell offers Russell an out: Let's both drop our dirt. Russell doesn't agree to that and Hockstader throws his support to Cantwell. All three actors give uniformly outstanding performances.
Vidal wrote "The Best Man" as a primer on "how to play the Washington game." The candidates, the supporters, the media and everyone else involved with the 1960 campaigns were of European descent. Their racial background clearly reflect where the power in federal government resided.
Now, with 50 years of hindsight, we have the historical perspective to see beyond the rules of the old "game." The March on Washington and the arrival of America's first Black presidential candidate amount to an indictment of institutional racism that had characterized American politics for generations.
"The Best Man" plays at Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley through Sept. 28. For more information, go to www.auroratheatre.org.
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