Hard-hitting parody
V. GANGADHAR
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‘Nixon’s Nixon,’ an 85-minute laughter-filled play staged at Washington’s Round House Theatre, pulls no punches.
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He disgraced the U.S. Presidency and was forced to resign. He is dead… yet Richard Milhous Nixon’s ghost continues to haunt the country.
Recently, two more Nixon biographies, one on John Mitchell (his Attorney General who went to jail on charges of criminal conspiracy), have been released.
And now, a parody on Nixon is drawing crowds at the capital’s Round House Theatre and eliciting rave reviews. It is hard to visualise such a hard hitting parody on an Indian politician. But ‘Nixon’s Nixon,’ an 85-minute laughter-filled play, pulls no punches.
Produced by Russell Lee and Directed by Jerry Whiddon, ‘Nixon…’ is an amazing portrayal of the scowling personality, who, arms flailing, jowls flapping is shown losing all self control on the eve of his resignation. The fantasy shows him in the company of his Machiavellian Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger.
The odd couple are savagely spoofed, shown swigging brandies, reminiscing about their glorious past and planning for an uncertain future. Those who are familiar with the notorious Nixon administration will immediately recognise the take off on such familiar issues such as ‘executive privilege’ and foul language under the guise of ‘expletives deleted’!
Poking fun at events
The play makes fun of major political events of the Nixon era and caricatures many of his famed contemporaries including former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, Robert Kennedy and Chairman Mao. The audience laughed their guts out at the Moscow summit scene, where Nixon was shown playing Russian leader Brezhnev and Kissinger enacting the role of his boss.
Playing Nixon, a complex personality, is not easy. Even a talented star such as Anthony Hopkins could not do justice to his role in the movie, ‘Nixon.’ The play is better because Nixon is an ideal character for parody. Remember how cartoonists loved him?
Edward Gero, complete with jowls, creased cheeks, the famed five o’clock shadow and ill-fitting suit, makes an unforgettable Nixon while Conrad Feininger, dapper, tuxedoed and accented voice is the ideal Kissinger.
‘Nixon’s Nixon’ for all its bile, satire, irreverence and laughter has an underlying message because it also focuses on how the American Pesidency has been devalued by some of the occupants of the White House. Nixon belonged to the long line of Presidents who cheated, lied to their people and were also morally found wanting.
The play has been staged often in the U.S. but the current version is on a much larger scale. It brilliantly symbolises the brazen vulgarity that has come to be associated with the White House. While American print media has not forgotten political satire, ‘Nixon’ has the robustness of a Restoration era play when political satire was more popular.
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