On a Sunday night in January 2008, Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager Mark are in a hotel room. The New Hampshire primary is two days away and the poll numbers look bad. Mrs. Clinton complains that “the vultures are circling.” Barack Obama has offered her a position as his running mate if she drops out of the race. Hillary and Clinton, the new play by Lucas Hnath, is a fictionalized character study of this famous woman and what makes her tick.
We all know the general plot outline. Hillary is running for President and will not succeed. We will see her failed candidacy and her troubled marriage to Bill, the 42nd President of the United States and her philandering husband. A story of ambition and drive in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, Hillary and Clinton is a thrilling dive into the head of this woman. Covering a topic that has been exhaustively played out over and over again, it is hard to imagine how Mr. Hnath has mined comedic gold from this material.
Famously Bill flies into New Hampshire at his wife’s request, wreaking havoc in his wake. He is not sure she should continue running for President telling her “don’t let them see you as a rotting corpse.” She doesn’t have his personality, instead she is “cold, stubborn and guarded.” With him playing attack dog by her side, they will be stronger. “Everyone wants a mommy. Everyone wants a dog. With us, they get both.”
While Hillary and Clinton deals with politics, the play is not a political one which takes sides. This is a play about a woman who does indeed come off as guarded. This playwright conjures a glimpse inside her brain. That view is neither flattering nor negative. Better than that, it is believably detailed. You feel sorry for her. Her defensive fortress is understood. When the pit bull appears baring her fangs, you recoil again. This ninety minute play is so effective because we all have our long-held opinions about these people.
Barack Obama is the fourth character in this play but the tension he creates happens long before an appearance on stage. Having placed third in the Iowa caucuses, Mrs. Clinton is reeling. Her anointment to the highest office in our country is not so definite as she and her campaign would like to believe. We’ve heard this all before and still it is impressively riveting stuff.
The action takes place in a laboratory-like shell of a hotel room nicely designed by Chloe Lamford. As usual, Laurie Metcalf is terrific as Hillary. The performance is emotionally rich and does not resort to mimicry at all. At one point she is seated with Bill standing behind her. I actually thought I saw Hillary’s face not Ms. Metcalf’s. As her husband, John Lithgow is wonderfully annoying portraying the man whose glory days are well behind him. This play makes a case for this couple as quintessential American opportunists but also as ravenously greedy, self-absorbed, power hungry loners. Is there no hurdle they cannot climb?
After last year’s fantastic revival of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, Joe Mantello has once again brought an intimate character study to remarkable life. Zak Orth is unforgettable as the beleaguered campaign manager Mark. Peter Francis James’ portrayal of President Obama is instantly recognizable and interestingly edgy. All of these people are political sharks. It’s just through different personality lenses that we see them.
Lucas Hnath is a supremely gifted playwright and the writing of this piece is so good that there is not one lull in the action. Whatever your political persuasion, Hillary and Clinton is highly recommended. The marquee states that the play is “primarily a comedy.” If you are a political junkie and actually pay attention to presidential politics and the interminable slog through the primaries, this grand entertainment should equate to an Electoral College landslide.
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