Anyone who has been paying attention to the movie scene this past year (and doesn't live under a rock ;-)), is aware of the movie "Frost/Nixon" - a dramatic look at the biggest television coup of the 1970's: a talk show host (David Frost) gets the first ever interview with the 37th President of the United States (Richard Nixon - who fell from grace after the Watergate scandal). These interviews were the only evidence that Nixon had ever felt anything close to remorse or guilt or responsibility for the trauma that the American people were put through as a result of the Watergate scandal. Now just imagine the stage version: where you can see and feel the tension between Frost and Nixon on stage, as they duel in the fight of their lives - one to gain the popularity and celebrity of a television czar in the United States, and the other to regain at least a portion of the dignity he has lost.
I was surprised both by the comic elements of the play, and Nixon's personality (potrayed by Stacy Keach). It is an irony that the intense spotlight of a political scandal often does not illuminate the subject's nuanced character, instead it over-simplifies the subject into a flat, nondescript caricature. The play tries to reverse this phenomenon by giving the audience a peek into the personality of Richard Nixon - yes, he broke the law; yes, he abused his powers; yes, he allowed politics to cloud his better judgement... but he was also a very complicated sum of many parts - a fact that is often left off the table.
The change in Frost's character - from someone whose only goal is to win the top spot in America's television-driven society; to someone who truly wants to win a battle of wits with the most cagey, artful, and shrewd of opponents - is well potrayed by Alan Cox, who tries masterfully to compete with the larger-than-life stage presence of Stacy Keach.
I have to say that the auditorium (Aranoff Center) was too large for a play like this. We were quite thankful that an issue with the stage design was the reason our balcony tickets were exchanged for much better seats in the orchestra section (free upgrade :)). It was also a great idea to depict some of the on-stage action on a large screen, which showed Nixon's every frown, twitch, furrowing of the brows and his famous dabbing of the upperlip/forehead with a handkerchief!
I don't think the playwright's intention was to garner any sympathy for the ex-president (even if that is a byproduct of the performance). I think the audience will walk away with a better understanding of this complex man.. who was greedy, delusional, abusive of his powers, cunning, innovative as a statesman, yet short sighted, who ultimately craved the spotlight that he once took for granted.
