The Avenue Theater is almost embarrassingly fortunate to be presenting David Mamet’s lunatic presidential comedy, “November,” in these weeks leading up to the general election. It is an indescribable relief to take a step back from the increasingly divisive discourse swirling all around us and laugh about it. Hard.
“November” is a witty play about the most ineffective and unpopular president in history, a man whose chances of re-election are so long- gone, his party has abandoned him, his wife is absconding with her favorite White House couch, and his Secret Service detail has been cut to part time. But he’s willing to resort to any trick to get re-elected.
For a protagonist so clearly modeled after George W. Bush, “November” is surprisingly nonpartisan, not so much anti-Bush as it is anti-stupidity. If you want to see it as gigantic noogie to Bush’s head, then it is. But the words Bush, Democrat and Republican are never uttered. Mamet himself recently penned a Village Voice essay titled, “Why I Am No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal,” describing his transition from a ’60s beatnik distrusting all governments and corporations into a cranky cynic who has come to see that a country is a marketplace, not a schoolroom for teaching values.
That said . . . C’mon! His President Smith has led his country into an unpopular war with Iraq (or Iran, he can’t keep it straight) . . . and his predecessor was named Clinton.
The laughs begin before you even sit down. A sign in the box-office warns of the coming, trademark Mamet profanity: “President Charles Smith uses variations of the ‘f word’ more than Obama and McCain say ‘change.’ ”
This play comes to the little Avenue Theater direct from a six-month Broadway run. Theaters rarely get to present such topical and timely material, covering everything from immigration to same-sex marriage. And small theaters almost never get their hands on hit material from New York this fast.
“November” is a ridiculous tale that ventures into farce, which makes its essential truth all the more biting. President Smith, you see, is a paranoid, sexist, racist homophobe who extorts the head of the National Association of Turkey and Turkey By-Products Manufacturers into giving up $200 million.
Why him? Because in Mamet’s (popular) world view, they’re all turkeys.
Smith is flanked by a lesbian speechwriter and an (apparently) teenage chief of staff whose job is to deliver sardonic zingers about his boss’ incompetence (think of Arthur’s butler — with a potty mouth).
But at its essence, this is an ideological polemic that Mamet himself has described as “an argument between a president who is self-interested, corrupt, suborned, and realistic — and his leftish, lesbian, utopian-socialist speechwriter.” One who’s blackmailing her boss into marrying her to her partner on national TV.
So we have two “protagonists” who want something middle America would hate. Vintage Mamet.
But this is not your older brother’s Mamet. “November” is an all-out comedy that’s been best described as a combination of the Marx brothers and Mad magazine.
No one will confuse director Bob Wells’ modest Oval Office set with the real one, nor his capable cast to Nathan Lane (Smith), Laurie Metcalf (Clarice) and the great Colorado Shakespeare Festival alum Dylan Baker, who delivered a laugh-a-minute fusillade as Archer. Kevin Hart, Laura Norman and young James O’Hagan-Murphy have more ebb and flow in their comic rhythm. But they leave their audience howling with almost therapeutic glee from so many genuinely funny one-liners.
This staging is just a comic roll in the hay for Hart, an Avenue favorite since its opening play in 1987. His Smith comes off as a more intelligent and less clownish (and therefore more dangerous) president than Lane’s, which gives the play a wonderfully smarmy edge not found in the more blithe Broadway offering. He’d be even better if he’d slow his words down.
Mamet wrote “November” in response to the division in America over issues that have no middle ground. So all one can do is laugh about the insolubility of the problems. “That’s what comedy is for,” he has said.
Comedy is the great uniter. Take when Clarice reminds Smith that the people voted for him, once. “They were mistaken,” he responds. “And “that’s their right,” she retorts.
That’s what makes ours a democracy. We all get to vote — and we all get to laugh at the same jokes.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“November” *** (out of four stars)
Avenue Theater, 417 E. 17th Ave. Written by David Mamet. Through Nov. 22. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. 1 hour, 50 minutes. $18- $22 (2-for-1 Thursdays). 303- 321-5925 or .
Online video bonus: Running Lines with . . . Kevin Hart
John Moore brings you excerpts and interviews with actor Kevin Hart and his alter ego, U.S. President Charles Smith, in advance of the Avenue Theater’s new David Mamet comedy, “November.” Recorded Oct. 13, 2008. Run time: 11 minutes.
This weekend’s theater openings
“Anything Goes” Coal Creek Community Theatre presents Cole Porter’s classic musical about Reno Sweeney and Billy Crocker. Through Nov. 16. At Northglenn High School, 601 W. 100th Place, 303-665-0955 or
“As You Like It” Shakespearean comedy featuring his greatest heroine, Rosalind, the girl who dresses like a boy to teach the boy how to get the girl. Through Nov. 29. OpenStage & Company, Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, 970-221-6730 or
“I Am My Own Wife” Erik Sandvold comes to Colorado Springs’ TheatreWorks to reprise his acclaimed 2006 role as the real-life German transvestite who has survived both the Nazi and Communist regimes. Through Nov. 9. At Bon Vivant Theater, 3955 Cragwood Drive, 719-262-3232 or
“Fat Pig” Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company presents Neil LaBute’s tale of a young, handsome exec who falls for a “plus-sized” woman. Will their relationship be able to endure the societal pressures that surround them? Don’t count on it. Through Nov. 23. Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 or
“Fuddy Meers” David Lindsay-Abaire’s freaky screwball comedy (and Pulitzer winner) about a woman who wakes each morning as a blank slate. Through Nov. 16. Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., 303-772-5200 or
“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” Throwback musical based on the 1954 film, including “Blue Skies,” “How Deep is the Ocean” and, of course, the title song. Through Jan. 3. Carousel Dinner Theatre, 3509 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, 970-225-2555 or
“Mame” Jerry Herman’s classic musical about the eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian clique. Through Dec. 14 (reprising Dec. 31-Jan. 4). Jesters Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont, 303-682-9980 or
“Speech and Debate” Three high-school misfits linked by a town sex scandal decide the only way to get to the truth is to form their school’s first speech and debate team. This is one of the first stagings of this clever comedy anywhere since it premiered in New York last year. Written by Stephen Karam. Through Dec. 13. Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma St., 303-623-0524 or
This weekend’s theater closings
Today, Oct. 31: Gaslight’s “Blithe Spirit” Westminster
Saturday, Nov. 1: Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Noises Off” (at the Stage Theatre)
Saturday, Nov. 1: Shadow’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
Saturday, Nov. 1: Bug Theatre’s “Night of the Living Dead”
Saturday, Nov. 1: Backstage’s “The Mystery of Irma Vep” Breckenridge
Saturday, Nov. 1: Thin Air Theatre’s “Frankenstein of Cripple Creek” Cripple Creek
Saturday, Nov. 1: Adams Mystery Playouse’s “Welcome . . . to Murder Mortuary”
Saturday, Nov. 1: Bovine Metropolis’ “Bovanity Fair”
Sunday, Nov. 2: Vintage Theatre’s “Murderers”
Sunday, Nov. 2: Festival Playhouse’s “It was a Dark and Stormy Night” Arvada
Compiled by John Moore
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of every currently running production in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page.
This week’s video podcast: “Speech and Debate”
Running Lines with . . . Laura Jo Trexler, Steven J. Burge and Glen Moore, who don the personas of their Curious Theatre alter egos for a short conversation with John Moore. Run time: 4 minutes.
