On Stage: Three plays, three takes on politics

Plays that opened this past week offer politics in three time frames: 1. right this very minute, 2. prehistory, and 3. a flashback, flash-forward blend of the 1960s and now.

"The Book of Nathan," at Theater Schmeater, incorporates the blend. Civic Light Opera's "Children of Eden" is a musical adaptation of Old Testament stories. And "A Dangerous Age" at the Capitol Hill Arts Center is very much right here, right now.

'A Dangerous Age'

It would be easy to pick at "A Dangerous Age." The characters are insufficiently detailed, their voices and body language are insufficiently differentiated, some of the incidents are insufficiently integrated, thematically, into the work as a whole.

The trouble with that sort of fastidiousness is it undermines something more important. "A Dangerous Age" may not be the perfect Iraq war political drama, but it's the only one we have. And, all in all, the show is skillfully written and acted. It lends welcome emotional nuances to the creepy dryness of tragedy filtered through journalism.

Performer Mark Pinkosh and writer/director Godfrey Hamilton constitute Starving Artists Productions, a roving company that has been around for 20 years. "A Dangerous Age" is their most recent work. It has been performed in London and Birmingham. Its U.S. premiere took place last week at the University of Puget Sound.

Pinkosh plays two men, Jackson and Zach. Jackson is a gay actor. Zach is a Marine who, at 40, had "never made out with a guy before" who is getting it on with Jackson on an August evening beside Lake Michigan. Jackson avers that he had "never made out with a Republican before."

Pinkosh portrays these two characters through a series of monologues and dialogues.

Jackson is an anti-war activist. Zach is sent from his base in Michigan to Iraq. Jackson seems frivolous. His experience of war is limited to a fringe theater production of a play about pugnacious Greek gods. Zach's father is a lieutenant colonel. Military life is a family matter for him. Eventually he finds himself in the notorious battle of Fallujah. The scene is ghastly.

"A Dangerous Age" is only 75 minutes long. Much of it is funny in the way of stand-up comedy. What distinguishes it, however, is a unique willingness to take on a subject that really matters right now this very minute. In that sense, it is the only show in town.

"A Dangerous Age" plays at the Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave., through Dec. 2. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door; 800-838-3006 or brownpapertickets.com.

'Children of Eden'

The political struggles in "Children of Eden" are presumably eternal. The daddy party is conservative. It preaches submission to God's will. The mommy party is progressive. It questions authority in the hope of finding better ways and better days. It's the old story of humanism versus theocracy.

The 1991 show, with songs by Stephen ("Godspell," "Wicked") Schwartz, is based on stories out of Genesis. Act one has to do with the Garden of Eden and the expulsion of Adam and Eve. Act two has to do with Noah's ark and the exterminating flood.

Since theater can't exist without conflict, rebellion and heroic defiance, it is obvious which party Schwartz and his librettist John Caird necessarily belong to. Laird M. Thornton, who plays God (or "father," as he is called) in Civic Light Opera director Kelly Willis' production, has a suitably mighty and authoritative voice. But he is definitely the heavy.

God just wants innocent, obedient, grateful minions. When flouted, he gets mean. And he is horribly incorrect politically. He unleashes a weapon of mass destruction (the flood) for the purpose of genocide (the extermination of the "race of Cain"). His unthinking loyalists -- Adam, Abel, Noah's sons Shem and Ham -- are ciphers. The doubters and strugglers -- Eve, Cain, Noah and his son Japheth -- make the show happen.

Kat Ramsburg is nervy and poignant as Eve. Vince Wingerter sizzles as Cain. Matt Shimkus as Noah and Ryan McCabe as Japheth illustrate the inner dynamics of defiance and compliance.

Cute elementary school-age youngsters join assorted adults to fill out the singing, dancing ensemble. Adorable animal puppets and animal costumes are unique "Children of Eden" assets. Though the CLO production is definitely low tech and low budget, costume designer Doris Black and properties wrangler Amy Lazerte do right by the show's adorability demands.

"Children of Eden" plays at the Magnuson Park Community Center Auditorium, 7400 Sand Point Way N.E., through Dec. 3. Tickets are $25-$35; 206-363-2809.

'The Book of Nathan'

"The Book of Nathan" author Joseph L. Mitchell won last year's Theater Schmeater Northwest Playwrights Competition. He is from Olympia. His play includes war (Vietnam), assorted inner conflicts and a steady barrage of bickering, reproach, teasing, sarcasm, cynicism, insults, testiness and threats of violence.

The 14 characters range from decent but morose to just plain vile. Their depiction ranges from sketchy to caricature.

The contemporary scenes take place in a prison. Jermaine is awaiting execution. Nathan, his father, is a clergyman. He comes to visit. They are African American. They squabble. Nathan tells of how, in Vietnam, he killed an irritating white racist. To avoid execution, he joined a secret U.S. government plot to subvert black churches and thereby weaken the civil rights movement. So demoralized was young Jermaine by fallout from his father's actions that he became an arch criminal, remorselessly offing white crooks and dirtballs.

Meanwhile, three of the guards and a trustee convict in Jermaine's prison taunt one another and play cards. Sometimes they preach at, or at least excoriate, one anotherr. Maybe this is what jail guards are paid to do. I don't know. But it seems highly contrived: people supposedly at work spending two uninterrupted hours gossiping and baiting. In addition, these guys are dramatically irrelevant.

"The Book of Nathan" is a truly unpleasant play. The characters are unsympathetic. The dialogue wastes time on repetitive and verbosely expressed opinions. And the plot keeps teetering into implausibility. The play does give a pretext, however, for some intense acting.

William Wheeler, as Nathan, conveys pathos. Marcel Davis as Jermaine on death row and Joseph Bayard playing Jermaine the young thug are both fiery. Andy Clawson, as the white chief guard, reacts to a steady barrage of race-based and class-based ridicule by withdrawing, lashing out, trying straightforward candor, and, eventually, panicking. It's a thankless job. But Clawson handles it pretty well.

Theater Schmeater is at 1500 Summit Ave. "The Book of Nathan" runs there through Dec. 9. Tickets are $15, $18; under 18 free, pay what you can on Thursdays; 206-325-6500 or ticketwindowonline.com.

To see more of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, for online features, or to subscribe, go to http://seattlep-I.com.

© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All Rights Reserved.