43 Plays for 43 Presidents

I wanted to see at least one play during our stay in the States. And that's exactly what we managed to do. Did we ever choose the right play.

43 Plays for 43 Presidents was an awesome experience. It was performed by the Rough and Toumble crew at LaVal's Subterranean Theatre in Berkeley. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to write about it right after we saw it. We only got back to Germany after their run ended.

I just wanted to write a short post on this to thank the writers (Andrew Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo, Chloë Johnston and Karen Weinberg) of this play and the magnificent actors of Rough and Tumble: Stewart Evan Smith, Louise Chegwidden, Arwen Anderson, Josh Pollock, and Norman Gee (as pictured from left to right). As all Presidents up to date were white men, it was interesting to see how it could have been, or better even, how it could be in the future with the first woman and first African-American having a real shot at the nomination of the Democratic Party.

They did receive pretty good reviews:

Contra Costa Times
San Francisco Chronicle
The Daily Californian

Just this little bit from the Chronicle:

Perhaps most refreshingly, "Presidents" lampoons Bill Clinton (Gee catching the vocal inflections) not for his personal peccadilloes but for his betrayals of progressive politics.

That was actually a little disheartening to watch but it seemed kinda true - a lot of talking but little progressive, liberal action.

Thanks, Rough and Tumble! We enjoyed it!