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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5
color="#00ccff" face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:16.0pt;
color:#00CCFF;font-weight:bold'>Actors’ <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Summit</st1:City></st1:place> resurrects Nixon in
‘mesmerizing’ production<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>10/30/2008 - <st1:place w:st="on">West Side</st1:place> Leader<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By David Ritchey<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>HUDSON</span></font></st1:City></st1:place>
— 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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>What did they talk about?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Nixon knew he was about to be forced from office by the Senate. He had
few options, and those were dwindling.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The play deals with his discussing those options with Kissinger, his
confidant and, perhaps, friend.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Could he not alter his behavior to remove those flaws that were
destroying him?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Could he not free himself of the demons?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>“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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thackaberry and Roth deliver superior performances.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Audience members must make an effort not to rate or rank the
performances. The two actors work together to deliver one memorable
performance.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>“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 <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lincoln</st1:place></st1:City> sitting room in
the White House. Note, for the pure of ear, no expletives have been deleted.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>For ticket information, call (330) 342-0800.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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