Aurora Theatre presents the political thriller, THE BEST MAN, written by Gore Vidal, and directed by Artistic Director Tom Ross
September 9th, 2008
Podcast #183
IF YOU LIKE DRAMATIC SATIRICAL COMEDIES DRENCHED IN ISSUES SURROUNDING POLITICAL ETHICS, THEN YOU ARE BOUND TO LOVE GORE VIDALS “THE BEST MAN” PRESENTED BY AURORA THEATRE.
Its being performed August 22, - Sept 28
I personally did not grow up hearing about Gore Vidal. As a matter of fact, when I was contacted to do this interview, I secretly wondered if he was somehow related to the Vidal Sassoon empire. Boy was I wrong (an embarrassingly so).
You see, as it turns out, he was much more interesting that some hair dresser. Not that hair dressers can be interesting, but Gore turned out to be a political dynamo who was able to hold peoples attention.
Gore was a prolific writer, so of course he did not have time to do hair. He had a panache for providing commentary on socio-political issues, on sexual issues, historical issues and literary themes.
I am not going to lie, I have read nothing by this man, but here is what I do know (thatnk you wikipedia).
And he was an accomplished essayist, novelist, and playwright. He was political in nature. I happened to be born 9 years after he ran for Congress in 1960 (the same year this play, THE BEST MAN, was produced on Broadway). Believe me, the last thing my black family was worried about was some guy ranting about politics. Just not something my family was interested in.
Nor did they care about Gore being born, essentially, into “royalty”. Ok royalty may be a bit strong, but he was born into high political connections. This is something that black folk had no notion of, especially back then. Today we have Condelezza Rice (does she have children?), Colin Powell (does he have children?) and Barack Obama (who wasn’t born into high political connections, but boy, will his daughters have connections).
So what type of connections did Gore have? I learned that his father worked in the Roosevelt administration. His grandfather was a Senator. He is / was a 5th cousin to ex president Jimmy Carter and is a distant cousin to Al Gore (I don’t know how a last name got to be his first name, but I guess that can happen in the political stratosphere were a mere mortal, such as myself does not have the key to enter).
SO WHY IN THE HELL DID I AGREE TO DO THIS INTERVIEW IF I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAN? AND WHAT IS THIS PLAY REALLY ABOUT?
Because there were some interesting parallels about this production that mirrors what is happening in the presidential elections of 2008.
There was a monumental happening in 1960. It was an election year. And it was the first year the presidential debates were held on television. Now I know that those of us born after the 60’s will never have a strong appreciation for what that historic event meant to the generations before us. But what we can appreciate today is that corresponding parallel of how Barack Obama has leveraged the internet better than any presidential candidate in history. Not that the internet has been around that long, but many of us have been part of the internet revolution and have experienced first hand how it has changed our lives forever.
So in 1960 we had presidential debates on the television, which was revolutionary, and in 2008 the revolution lies in using web strategies to propel a black man to be the first ever man of color to receive a presidential nomination by a political party.
I actually found it interesting that a play, about 50 years old, could still be relevant today and could possibly offer us a glimpse into what our current presidential process is about.
“Gore Vidal’s The Best Man features two front runners for a political party nomination that will almost certainly make one the next President of the United States. Each candidate is in possession of some serious mud to sling and each has to decide just how dirty to play the game. Written with the deep insight of a true political insider (Vidal ran for Congress in 1960, the same year he penned the play) and the wit of a grand man of letters.”
You should know that one of the characters is based on Adlai Stevenson / John Kennedy and the other character is based on Richard Nixon. Now again, I must apologize, I am not knowledgeable in my political figures. But everyone knows the legacy of the Kennedy clan, and everyone knows the infamous Nixon administration, tarred by the Watergate incident. I can’t even begin to tell you about Adlai. Never heard of him until this interview.
AND THEN THERE IS THE MUD SLINGING AND ALL THE POLITICAL INNUENDOS THAT HAPPEN IN A POLITICAL ELECTION
Yes, every single one of us desires to hear an earful of ‘dirt’ about other people every once and a while.
Now Tom Ross, the director of THE BEST MAN, playing at the Aurora theatre is quick to point out that this play is a political play but not about political issues. That’s what keeps it timely. One of the things that happens in politics is the mud slinging, the dirt digging and the gossip mongers out to hurt their opponent. In this play issues of moral righteousness come up and how one keeps a sense of humanity in an electoral process that many times has candidates resorting to dirty tactics with win over their American audience. I asked Tom if he and the actors tackled that dilemma and if so, what solutions did they come up with.
Tom stated that although they did discuss the issues of mud slinging and maintaining a moral compass, it was not up to him and the actors to decide if there was actually a way to maintain ones sense of moral fortitude during political tenure. Tom believes it is for the audience to make that decision.
Although I did not state this in the interview, HERE IS MY POINT OF CONTENTION. If I, as an actor, am playing a character that has to make decisions based on my sense of what is right / wrong and what is moral, I must find a way to make that happen. If that is the true intent of my character, I cannot help but find ways to justify my actions so that I can keep a sense of positive contributions to society and to my constituency. BUT obviously Tom Ross does not feel like. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to tell the audience what they figured out. Maybe what he really meant was “yes we explored that and each character found their way, BUT I’M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT THAT IS! Haha. You have to come see the show!”
Maybe that is what he really meant, but he just couldn’t say that. Then again, maybe he meant exactly what he said.
One of the more interesting components of this production comes from a story from Tom Ross about his remembrance of the 1968 elections that were televised. You see, Tom was very young during the 1960 televised presidential debates, but come 1968, Tom was ready to watch what candidates had to say. And Tom remembered seeing Gore Vidal (who he described as the Liberal) at the presidential convention facing off with William H. Buckley (who Tom described as the conservative).
Apparently, on live television, while in a heated argument, Vidal called Buckley a crypto-nazi and Buckley quickly retorted by calling Gore a little queer and that he was going to beat Gore up.
THAT IS MUD SLINGING AT ITS BEST.
So if this type of material is of interest to you, then I think I have found the perfect production for you to go see. It is THE BEST MAN playing at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley August 22, - Sept 28. It was directed by the Artistic Director of the theatre, Mr. Tom Ross.
GO SEE IT. And vote for Barack! (when the time comes)
SHOW NOTES
Aurora Theatre: The Website
Playing August 22, - Sept 28
The Best Man: Buy Tickets
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