In her syndicated opinion columns, Molly Ivins saw it as her patriotic duty to call out a system when its servants betrayed the country she loved. So it is in “Red Hot Patriot,” a play in which Rhonda Brown portrays the columnist with gusto.
Ivins, a native Texan, believed in accountability. Her delight in exposing corrupt politicians and lazy journalism was palpable, and “Red Hot Patriot” celebrates that.
The play starts with Ivins leisurely writing an obituary — oops, an “appreciation,” the phrase preferred by onetime employer The New York Times — that proves to be about her father, a rigidly conservative military veteran. He and his daughter agreed on little, and his attitudes shaped Ivins into someone who never stopped questioning authority.
She was one of the few journalists openly opposed to invading Iraq in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks because “I thought it would be bad for this country, our country, my country. I opposed the invasion out of patriotism,” she wrote.
“It has done nothing but harm to the United States of America. I think we have created more terrorists than we started with, and that our good name has been sullied all over the world…. I did not oppose the war because I like Saddam Hussein. I have been active in human rights work for 30 years, and I told you he was a miserable S.O.B. back in the ’80s, when our government was sending him arms.”
That would be the government led by George H.W. Bush, father of George W. Bush, president at the time she wrote those words. Ivins was a fan of neither Bush; she called the younger one “Shrub.”
So at this point, you’re either seething or cheering. That’s “Red Hot Patriot”: A show likely to infuriate fans of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity et al., though it might cause them to think twice about some of their beliefs.
Consequently, it’s a show that reassures progressives, reinforcing their beliefs — until the end, when Ivins turns her scrutiny on her own kind. What, she asks her loyal liberal fans, are they doing to make this country a better place for all?
“Why do we let the right wing claim patriotism and religion for themselves?” she asks in the play, and Rhonda Brown trains her sharp gaze on the audience’s frozen smiles.
In the production by ETC Everyman Theatre Co. and R & R Productions, “Red Hot Patriot” is as sharp and efficient as a skilled typist at a typewriter. If it makes liberals a little uncomfortable, then the play, and the late Molly Ivins, have done their job.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or
“RED HOT PATRIOT”
Script by Margaret and Allison Engel. Directed by Richard H. Pegg. Starring Rhonda Brown. Through March 15 at the Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora. Tickets $28 at 303-739-1070 or online at
