[NEohioPAL] Rave WSL Review of NIXON'S NIXON at Actors' Summit Final 4 Performances

[Neil Thackaberry]

Actors' Summit resurrects Nixon in 'mesmerizing' production

10/30/2008 - West Side Leader

       

By David Ritchey

 

HUDSON - Richard M. Nixon is back. He promised he'd return and he has.
He's on the stage in Actors' Summit Theater's production of "Nixon's
Nixon," which is one of the most mesmerizing theatrical productions to
come our way in a long, long time.

The night before Nixon resigned, he invited then Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger to the White House. Little is known about that night
except Kissinger reported Nixon asked him to kneel and pray with him and
that the two men talked.

 

What did they talk about?

 

That evening in the White House is the subject of "Nixon's Nixon," which
is directed by Constance Thackaberry. Playwright Russell Lees focuses
the play on at least three topics: power, legacy and the possibility of
saving the presidency for Nixon. It's difficult to imagine the power the
president must feel or experience. Certainly all American presidents
have considered their legacy - what was accomplished and their failures
while in office.

 

Nixon knew he was about to be forced from office by the Senate. He had
few options, and those were dwindling.

 

The play deals with his discussing those options with Kissinger, his
confidant and, perhaps, friend.

 

No one knows what was talked about on that night. The script is a work
of fiction. However, as the fictional characters talk, they reveal
themselves. Lees has created a Nixon that is at once fascinating and
repulsive. This Nixon falls because of the flaws in his character and
the demons that plagued his life.

 

Could he not alter his behavior to remove those flaws that were
destroying him?

 

Could he not free himself of the demons?

 

Both the Nixon and Kissinger characters have the power to evoke an
empathic response from audience members. When Nixon kneels to pray and
demands, "God, tell me what to do," a palpable shiver rolled through the
audience.

 

"Nixon's Nixon" runs about 95 minutes, without an intermission. This is
a spellbinding time in the theater. Those of us who lived through the
Nixon era have read accounts of his last days in office. But Neil
Thackaberry as Nixon and George Roth as Kissinger bring those characters
to life, and the audience can watch both of them suffer the anguish of
Nixon's resignation, which was announced Aug. 8, 1974.

 

Thackaberry is spectacular as Nixon. He plays the role with the Nixon
speech patterns and inflections. He also looks like Nixon. He wears a
wig that brings to mind Nixon's well-oiled pompadour. Good acting
includes taming the actor's body and evoking the physical
characteristics of the character. Thackaberry clenches his jaw and
produces Nixon's tight, taut face. The resemblance to Nixon is uncanny.

 

Roth is excellent as Kissinger, which is not a supporting role but equal
to that of Nixon. Roth captures Kissinger's accent, but makes every word
accessible. Although Roth is not as physically large as Kissinger, he
captures the power claimed by those close to the president and responds
physically to that power.

 

Thackaberry and Roth deliver superior performances.

 

Audience members must make an effort not to rate or rank the
performances. The two actors work together to deliver one memorable
performance.

 

"Nixon's Nixon" continues through Nov. 9. In this year of the
presidential election, this production brings to mind presidential uses
and abuses of power. One way to celebrate the election is to see
"Nixon's Nixon" and watch what might have happened in the Lincoln
sitting room in the White House. Note, for the pure of ear, no
expletives have been deleted.

 

For ticket information, call (330) 342-0800.

 

 

 

David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of
communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the
American Theatre Critics Associa

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