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| L - R - LQ Victor and Michael Franco |
By Joe Straw
Politicians feel the need for political operatives – to get the
dirty deeds done – those dirty stinking rotten deeds – all in a quest for not
soiling one’s own linens.
But, inevitably, a dangling thread emerges. When one is caught in an illegal
act, there is a thread so fine, that if one looks closely, it leads to the
original incriminating garment wearer.
Sixth floor Watergate
Complex/DNC Office – Saturday June 17th, 1972 – 2:07 am
Once the door is jimmied, entry for all five shadowy figures
was relatively easy. They came in with
their faces down, crumpled in manner, in a way not to be noticed. A morass of men jumbled in conflict and purpose.
This was the second go-around, as they were unsuccessful in
the first. The not-so-easy part was the searching, and in complete darkness
too.
But, now an immediate and not-so-savvy fix was in order. And
this was their initial instantaneous screw-up – the flashlight – projecting out
the window like a lighthouse – beaming out beyond the political storm clouds – all
the way across the street to the Howard Johnson’s hotel.
The watchers at the Howard Johnson, muttered something across the walkie-talkie about that darn
light source. The shadows, simply annoyed, pulled out a cigarette lighter
illuminating little as a token bit of sarcasm to those on the lookout.
(But, the HoJo lookouts were not the only ones observing!)
Now, the third-rate burglars started taking photos of
everything. Working fast, knowing that if caught in
the Watergate complex, they would lose their amour-propre forever. They were each doing what needed to be done
for another life, a better life.
(Note: Nixon only lost one state against McGovern in the 1972
election, Massachusetts. So, why he
would risk his Presidency by ordering the break-in is beyond
comprehension. Paranoia tethers a worn garment;
perhaps this was the significant thread?)
The gangbusters theatre
company presents the fully staged workshop production of …meantime
at HoJo’s by Christian Levatino, produced by Leon Shanglebee & Darrett
Sanders, co-produced by Daniel Coronel, associate produced by Andy Hirsch at
The Flight Theatre Sunday July 15, 2017.
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| Patrick Flanagan and Hector Hugo |
Christian Levatino has written and directed an absurdist comedy, or a
realistic story, based on what happened on Saturday June 17th, 1972 with the
break-in of the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.
Given today's political
discourse, both the realistic and absurd flavors are both on life’s
menu today. And Levatino manages to tie in the politics of
yesterday to the absurdity of today in a way that seizes your attention.
The best way to live this fast and furious theatrical event is to
absorb it. And there are some
remarkable moments in this play, particularly with the Cubans as they play
chess and discus God’s creation. The
language in Spanish and English speaks a loud and clear message of want, of
unostentatious courage, of getting mixed up with the likes of people you
wouldn’t want fixing the plumbing in your own home.
Understanding this is a workshop performance, there are certain
things could be made clearer. For
example, this show needs a strong “McGuffin,” the one thing that moves the men
in a clear direction. The convincing
reason they go into the Watergate complex.
But Levatino creates diversion in each character’s objective.
And the diversions in the writing are
interesting elements in this play. Everyone
is breaking-in for his own reason, which is probably why the burglary was
doomed from the start.
For me, the “McGuffin” is the Howard Hughes and Donald Nixon
papers that drives these men into that office. But, that is the objective of the
President, to his pleasure, who we never see. And, despite
the diversions created in the writing, there should be that one strong push
that can satisfy the President’s objective before moving on to their own
objectives.
Scene One – Howard
Johnson’s Room 214 (419?) – Friday, June 16th 1972, 10:03PM
After the initial scene in darkness where the arrests are
made, we venture back in time to witness Bernard Barker aka Macho Barker
(Patrick Flanagan) eating popcorn and staring out the window of the Howard
Johnson hotel. He says he loves “Oriental woman” munching kernels out of a
movie popcorn box, dropping popcorn and making a complete mess. As an afterthought, he says he loves Cubans
too, blondes, but mostly Orientals.
Around him are his accomplices – Eugene Martinez aka Rolando
Martinez (Leo Oliva) and Virgillo Gonzales aka Villo Gonzalez (Hector Hugo) – two
Cubans who enjoy talking about life, playing chess, and waiting out the night
for the last remaining office worker to leave the Democratic National
Headquarters at the Watergate complex. They are moving in to find a way back home
to Cuba.
Frank Angelo Fiorini, a no-nonsense guy, who later changed
his name to Frank Sturges (Gregory Littman), reads a newspaper and waits for
the inevitable.
The Cubans remind everyone that no one is as crazy as the
whites – who by the way started World War I and World War II.
They wait for G. Gordon Liddy (LQ Victor), el jefe, and E.
Howard Hunt (Darrett Sanders). Hunt wants to be called Eduardo probably because
he doesn’t want to be connected with this group and because he carries the
thread from the President’s office.
E. Howard is the first to arrive. in the hotel room in a bad disguise;
a wig that looks likes a blond cat covering half of his head. It is a disguise that would immediately draw
suspicion from any guard with an IQ of seventy-two or lower. E. Howard doesn't think clearly.
“I have it on good authority
O’Brien’s got something in there pertaining to Castro. I we can find any evidence that that
c*cksucker is helping fund the Democrats, then we’ll have a pretty good
argument to knock him the f*ck out. – E. Howard Hunt
Interesting that E. Howard Hunt would use this line to get
the Cuban's blood boiling. In hindsight it seems a diversion of sorts.
G. Gordon Liddy finally arrives. He tells the burglars that they are looking
for information on Dick’s brother, Donald, who received a huge loan from Howard
Hughes (even back then, sigh) and they do not want that information leaked to
the press.
James ‘Jimmy’ McCord (Michael Franco) arrives in the room
with the electronic equipment and Gordon takes him out to the balcony to have a
serious talk with him. G. Gordon is unhappy about the first go round, the
failed bugs, and now the batteries that need charging. It’s just not going the way he wants it to
go.
“You look tired. Are you tired?”
– G. Gordon
I’m good, Gordon. I’ll grab a
coffee downstairs before I head out.” – Jimmy
“Maybe you grab two? – G. Gordon
Scene Two – Secrecy’s
The Thing – Howard Johnson’s Room 723 Friday, June 16th 1972 9.17pm
Room 723 is where the electronic equipment is kept and where
Alfred is to keep an eye and an ear tuned to everything. Unfortunately, Alfred has his mind on other
things. After this job, he has his mind
set on being on the Tonight Show speaking to Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon.
Jimmy interrupts Alfred and Alfred quickly goes back to the
spying task at hand. But Alfred’s a
little freaked out when he learns the crew is going back in and he’s on
surveillance. Suddenly, that’s news to
him.
G. Gordon comes in, bringing Jimmy and Alfred two coffees to
keep them awake on this night. Jimmy shows Gordon the fancy and expensive equipment
he bought with the money.
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| L - R Andy Hirsch and LQ Victor |
The acting is well above par and solid. But there are
things that could be added to make stronger character choices, to make a
character soar. These traits are needed to identify and witness a character’s
belief in his mission and where those traits are are taking the character.
Patrick Flanagan
(Macho Barker) has a nice natural way about him on stage. He is definitely a lot younger and has a
little less life experience than the character he portrays. A stronger character is necessary to carry the
weight of Macho Barker and we really have to find the reason for the character
being so sloppy and how that fits in the big screw-up in the end. That said, there was some really nice work
going on here.
Leo Oliva plays
the Cuban Rolando Martinez, a man who knows his way. Oliva gives the character some really nice
touches in his natural way on stage. Rolando
expresses a non educated reality, one that doesn’t sit too well with his atheist amigo. Still it is his belief, a tattered conscience, wanting to make
his truth whole. The Cuban accent from both actors were terrific!
Hector Hugo plays
the other Cuban, Villo Gonzalez, a pick man, and a man who figuratively carries
his education in his back pocket. He is also
incredible in the role as he presents his way of life in line with his education. He is a humanist with no religion or country and now he is in a no-win situation when it comes to his counterpart - but he
keeps trying nevertheless. There are a lot of fine details in his work and this is a performance not to miss.
Gregory Littman
as Frank Sturges is almost perfect in the role.
He is the right age and is specific in the manner in which he conducts
himself. He will not take anything from anyone because he knows where all the
skeletons are buried. We know his place in the pantheon of this group but not
really sure how he contributes in the overall piece of the production. He is the Luca Brasi without the payoff.
Darrett Sanders
is E. Howard Hunt. One is not quite sure
where the character is going. He is the contact-man
for the administration and has worked with the men before, somewhere in Dallas
1963. There is a threat from one man who
wants the world to know what went on that day and Howard is a little upset by
it all. But how does he fit in the overall through line? At times, he seems
like an underling, other times, the boss, and still other times a dofus with
the pants scene.
LQ Victor is G.
Gordon Liddy. There are times when G.
Gordon’s feathers are ruffled into a look of a disgruntled parrot with feathers
flying and beak banging against a desk. G. Gordon is on top of everything, a
man with a mission who moves men to their doom. He is stone cold when he wants something done, right. Someone needs to say that Liddy does not like
to say the word “pants”. G. Gordon, has peculiarities, particularly with Jeb MaGruder which is why he can't get his meetings with the biggies. There is a lot of good physical work on stage but LQ needs another
pairs of eyes to smooth out the edges.
Michael Franco is
mysterious as James “Jimmy” McCord a man who gives the go-ahead when thing go
awry. Somehow McCord’s alliance lies
elsewhere. He is sketchy when it comes
to his loyalties, like he’s not on their side. There is a moment when he needs strength
beyond recognition when everyone wants to jump ship. His logic must be
presented as a reasoning beyond questioning and that is his strength.
There’s not that much difference in Andy Hirsch’s character of Lee Harvey Oswald in Sunny Afternoon and
his portrayal of Alfred Baldwin in this production. Baldwin has many dreams of having a
successful career. One of them is
finishing law school. The other is being on the Tonight Show explaining what
went on this night. (The imitations need to be spot on. One hears it in the dialogue but not in the
performance.) He never made it to the Tonight Show but he was in California giving an
interview to the Los Angeles Times. Interesting
work but there is more to add to the character and also to the role.
I’ve seen Sunny Afternoon, King Dick, and …meantime at
HoJo’s by Christian Levatino and can’t wait for the next go round. All three shows
will all be playing sometime in October 2018.
Run! Run! Run! And take a political wonk.
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