Politiko

for The New West

It’s Friday night and the atmosphere is lively in The Big Secret Theatre. It’s Opening Night of Jason Patrick Rothery’s play Politiko and actually, it feels more like a House Party in here.

I am thinking about 1991. I am in Grade Ten. Beverly Hills 90210 is my favourite show, Roxette is my favourite band and Smells Like Teen Spirit is the number one single, even though I won’t discover the true musical genius that is Nirvana for another two years. I have a perm and acid wash jeans and I work at McDonald’s. These memories are as clear and as vivid to me as if they happened yesterday. What I don’t remember so clearly is the state of American politics, which I am quickly brushing up on, thanks to the Cheat Sheet included in my program.

As with music, 1991 is a pivotal time for politics south of the border. Paula Jones has accused President Clinton of sexual harassment; Ken Starr has been appointed to lead an investigation in which he will recommend impeachment, stemming from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Ah yes, and Anita Hill has accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of making “provocative sexual statements”; in turn Thomas has supposedly accused Hill of placing a pubic hair on his can of coke. I can’t stop laughing about the ludicrous pubic hair.

“Politiko is about very small people getting swept into very big events,” says Jason Patrick Rothery, who was prompted to write Politiko because he found the real-life story of David Brock, a conservative journalist in the 1990s, compelling. Brock, says Rothery, played an underappreciated if pivotal role in shaping the future.

“David Brock was very naïve. He was a 27 year-old closeted gay man who had only ever wanted to be accepted, and finds himself in the eye of a hurricane, struggling with his own sense of identity.”

“What was really interesting to me,” says Rothery “was that his actions had such a huge impact on the outcome of politics in the United States.”

Rothery also believes that the current circus theatrics in today’s political arena began with Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas:

“Politics in the US have become mean-spirited, consuming and derisive.”

This started after the Cold War, when the Americans no longer had a common enemy, and began turning inwards.
“I think this is a fascinating story on the danger of having a debate based on beliefs rather than facts,” says Rothery.

“Having two camps of people locked in their beliefs is a very dangerous thing.”

The play itself is a little like its writer: ambitious, witty and busy. Three of the four actors on stage play multiple characters. Although most are easily identifiable and distinguished through speech and dress, it isn’t always clear who they are and unfortunately, this can sometimes get a little confusing.

The play runs (ahem) a hair on the long side, but the performances are excellent. Geoffrey Ewert, whom last seen in platform heels and glitter eye shadow belting out tunes as Hedwig, is barely recognizable as Brock Oliphant, the very intense and surly defamer for the Conservative party.

Jordan Schartner also deserves props for his hilarious portrayal as a deliciously shifty and unapologetic “journalist” for a website on this new-fangled “Internet.”

My interest in politics runs hot and cold, depending on the topic and the day, and I am most engaged when I am talking to someone who knows their stuff and can present it to me in language that is both interesting and understandable. Both Rothery and his play manage this quite adeptly. Of course, when politics is merged with sex sandals, it’s easy to attract interest, but Politiko’s real success is to demonstrate that these sex scandals are anything but harmless.

Politiko runs until May 17th
For tickets and information, go here