{"id":9481,"date":"2012-10-17T19:30:31","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T02:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/?p=9481"},"modified":"2012-10-25T21:02:24","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T04:02:24","slug":"now-or-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/now-or-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Now Or Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play (2008)
\nby Christopher Shinn<\/p>\n

Directed by Michael Wilson<\/p>\n

Huntington Theatre Company<\/a>
\nCalderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
\nBoston<\/p>\n

With Grant MacDermott (John, Jr.), Michael Goldsmith (Matt), Ryan King (Marc), Alexandra Neil (Jessica), Adriane Lenox (Tracy), Tom Nelis (John, Sr.)<\/p>\n

October 12 – November 10, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ren\u00e9<\/a>
Ren\u00e9 Magritte, “The Eye” (1932-1935)
Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Controversial actions by the strong-willed son of a Presidential candidate raise concerns on election night, posing political problems with personal reverberations.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It is the night of a presidential election in the United States and John, Jr., son of one of the candidates, has done something controversial at his college campus. This is causing some serious concern on the part of the candidate and his senior staff and they each, in one way or another, prevail upon John, Jr. to apologize. But John, Jr. comes with a history of personal issues, a sense of rectitude and a strong will to back it up, and is not so easily convinced.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Goldsmith as Matt and Grant MacDermott as John, Jr.
Photo: Paul Marotta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This entertaining and word-filled election drama is perfect for the season. Though written during the 2008 elections, it is current and relevant, bringing up issues of contemporary topical interest.<\/p>\n

Largely a play of moral arguments, it contains able articulations of the opposing positions, though, at certain points, one feels that the arguments get a bit too heavily retraced. In holding to his position, John, Jr. is forced to pony up defenses against each member of his father’s staff, and against each of his parents. After a few iterations, we feel that we know enough of the argument to move on.<\/p>\n

But the play remains quite fast-paced. The two staff members and the parents all are quite different in temperament and style and so their presentations, at least, vary the tenor of the similar arguments.<\/p>\n

John, Jr.’s pal, Matt, is a welcome alternative presence who serves as his interlocutor from a more progressive political perspective.<\/p>\n

The play deals with the intersection of personal histories and political destinies in this almost-first family and reminds us well how little we get to see of the inner workings of political clans. <\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Nelis as John, Sr. and Grant MacDermott as John, Jr.
Photo: Paul Marotta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though well written, artfully constructed, well directed and acted, I had the feeling after all was said and done that the dramatic linchpin relied up something not quite believable. The expectation for John Jr. to apologize about his controversial behavior, and his resistance to do so, provides the dramatic edge. But, in the end, despite the narrative’s underlying explanations, that does not seem like political reality, yielding a sense that the play’s drama is a tempest conjured up in a teapot.<\/p>\n

Despite that, this compact and well-executed play, especially for this election season, is a stimulating political drama with thoughtfully-rendered familial dimensions.<\/p>\n

– BADMan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Play (2008) by Christopher Shinn
\nHuntington Theatre Company<\/a>
\nCalderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
\nOctober 12 – November 10, 2012<\/strong>
\nControversial actions by the strong-willed son of a Presidential candidate raise concerns on election night, posing political problems with personal reverberations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-plays","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9481"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9620,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9481\/revisions\/9620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}