Always Darkest Before Election Day

Nothing’s looking up in Ross Valley Players’ November White House. President Charles H. P. “Chucky” Smith has no chance of being re-elected; he’ll be lucky to make it to January. “What is it about me that people don’t like?” he asks his attorney, and the answer comes back, “That you’re still here.”

Already Smith’s calls are being put on hold, his speechwriter’s drafting his concession, and worse– there’s only $4000 in his Presidential Library Fund. The only source of financing on the horizon is the contribution that will come from The Representative of the National Association of Turkey and Turkey Products Manufacturers when Pres. Smith pardons the Thanksgiving turkey. Traditionally, that will be only $50,000. But if the price of turkey can be recalculated according to the number of holiday consumers, Smith proclaims that the number will be “so high even the dogs can’t hear it.”

Of course, the Representative resists that assessment, so Chucky takes a new tack. Maybe the whole idea of Thanksgiving is wrong. “After all, slavery was wrong. And disco.” So who needs turkey? Aha! A new source of revenue surfaces.

These machinations and others take place in the Oval Office. (Great set by Ken Rowland.) With Abe Lincoln’s portrait looking down from the wall, The President of the United States commits every verbal offense known to modern society. He slams the Chinese, foreign adoptions, homosexuals, Native Americans, illegal immigrants, and drops the “f-bomb” multiple times per paragraph. The audience laughs uneasily. There’s something familiar about Chucky. He reminds us of someone with beady eyes and big hair, Blagosomething. . .

David Mamet, author of tonight’s play, November, also comes from Chicago. His most famous play, Glengarry Glen Ross, explores back-room deal making in a real estate office, but many of his other works explore the con man at work. Is Mamet saying that the whole idea of elected government is a con? Is this play really that cynical?

Its director, James Dunn, insists that it is not, and he quotes from the playwright’s 2008 interview in New York magazine, the year November opened on Broadway. Reading from the play’s speechwriter’s lines, Mamet said then, “. . . The only country that is not divided is totalitarian . . . They figured this out in 1787 and drew up a few sheets of paper that have kept the country in line. It’s a great place to live.”

In the role of President Smith, Buzz Halsing has a huge load of script to carry, but he brings the part off with villainous vigor and duplicitous conviction. His attorney Archer Brown, played by Stephen Dietz, is suitably dry and defeated, while the Turkey Rep, Tom Reilly, shows pride in his work and paternal concern for the welfare of his birds. LeAnn Rumbel in the only female role as speechwriter Clarice Bernstein, portrays a dedicated government employee working doggedly through a distressingly realistic cold. In contrast to those around her, Bernstein’s idealism never vanishes, but it adapts to some skills she’s learned on the job. Romulo Torres, in the small, but essential role of Dwight Grackle, provides a surprise ending and yet another opportunity for the insatiable Smith.

The play’s lesson comes through clearly: to keep this country great, know who you’re voting for.

David Mamet’s November, opening RVP’s 81st season, will be at The Barn Theatre in Ross to October 17. Shows run Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Ticket prices range from $15 to $25. For a full schedule, including Neighborhood Night on Oct. 1, see the website, www.rossvalleyplayers.com or call the box office, 456-9555.