October 15–22, 1998

reviews|theater

Puppet Regime

InterAct Theatre Company at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., through Nov.1, 569-9700

Hilarious and scathing, sophisticated and substantial, Mastergate is a terrific show, combining both political punch and theatrical razzle-dazzle. This long one-act (85 minutes) written by Larry Gelbart (whose talent for political satire won his television series M*A*S*H many awards), is directed by Robert Smythe (of Mum Puppettheatre). His disquieting puppets and masks transform six excellent actors into 25 laugh-at-your-peril characters. Hayden Saunier (brava!), Pearce Bunting, Aaron Cromie, Scott Hitz, Paul Meshejian and John Stinson all turn in complex and subtle performances with a precision the Pentagon would envy.

Taking as its motto that those who forget the past are doomed to be subpoenaed, Mastergate is filled with Washington doublespeak (there's a laugh in every line if you're quick enough to catch them). A Senate subcommittee convenes to investigate the CIA takeover of a Hollywood studio to wage (or perhaps wag) an illegal war; this is termed "government self-abuse: Mastergate." The testimony suggests scandal after scandal, from Watergate to Whatevergate, with various hat-tippings, nose-thumbings and bumpersticker-hurlings at the Nixon impeachment hearings, the Iran-Contra hearings (starring a talking bush and GI Ollie), the S&L scam (another Bush manages not to burn), the Supreme Court slime (remember The Case of the Coca-Cola Can? talk about splitting hairs), and all the filth that poliflesh is heir to. (If you're too young or too forgetful or too cynical or too oblivious to know this recent history, the program provides "25 Proud Years of American Political Scandal": read it and weep.) The current scandals doublespeak for themselves.

This is a world where everybody dupes, deceives, cons, evades, dodges, equivocates, quibbles and hides, so Mastergate's puppets and masks and dummies aren't merely decorative devices; they are the figurative made literal—and made weirdly comical and scary and repulsive. As we listen to the testimony which discusses non-discussions by participants (non or otherwise) whose compliance (or non) is, sleaze-wise, sublime, it is perfect that we're not looking at faces that are fully human.

It would be criminal (but perhaps not indictable) to give away the funny bits—the paper shredder and the Barbie doll almost did me in. Go see it and enjoy yourself—and gnash your teeth all the way home.

-Toby Zinman