Gore Vidal's "Weekend," now having its Chicago premiere 40 years after its unsuccessful Broadway production, is a profoundly cynical play. Set in the 1968 primary season, it features a jaundiced view of the political system, manipulative, unlikable characters, and a highly artificial and formal use of language. If the play stays funny and dramatically compelling, none of this is a flaw. Vidal's script and Damon Kiely's production at TimeLine succeed about half the time, putting "Weekend" in the "flawed but fascinating" category.
The script focuses on Senator MacGruder (Terry Hamilton, a fascinating study in emptiness), a Republican running for the presidential nomination—and ahead of Richard Nixon in the polls. At the urging of his wife (Penny Slusher, steel beneath her maternal façade) he is about to deliver a television address on his plan to end the Vietnam War. All seems on track until his son Beany (Joe Sherman) comes home for a visit.
There are plenty of surprises from there, along with a bruising battle for advantage and political success. In this play the concept of family love and loyalty is as laughable as that of political idealism; the only important thing is getting ahead. The problem is that this philosophy is taken for granted; there is no drama in seeing ideals smashed, since nobody on stage ever believed in them.
Much of the play has enough zest that this doesn't matter, and the characterizations are generally vibrant. Particularly notable is Janet Ulrich Brooks, often seen in roles of finely detailed realism, being given a welcome chance to let loose as the hawkish, racist wife of Senator Andrews (crotchety Tom McElroy).
If the play is inconsistently successful as wicked comedy, the production is still a welcome rediscovery of a script with many contemporary resonances.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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