We went to see a very powerful play on
Broadway simply called “Hillary and Clinton.” The play centers on the early days of the 2008 presidential campaign in which the main candidates for
the Democratic party nomination were Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama.
There were just four actors in the play:
Laurie Metcalf, John Lithgow, Peter Francis James, and Mark Penn. Ms. Metcalf,
familiar from her long standing role as Roseanne’s sister Jackie on the
television show “Roseanne,” for which she won three Emmy awards, and winner of
two Tony awards (for “A Doll’s House, Part 2” in 2017 and “Three Tall Women” in
2018 – she has certainly been busy) was an amazing
Hillary. Former President Bill Clinton was played by Mr. Lithgow, a well-known
actor who may be familiar to many from his role on the television series “Third
Rock from the Sun,” as well as roles in films including “The World According to
Garp,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Footloose,” and a remake of the famous Twilight
Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”
The other two actors, Peter Francis
James as Barack Obama, and Zak Orth as Hillary’s chief campaign strategist,
Mark Penn, were not familiar to us but were really excellent in these roles.
It was a powerfully raw and honest
portrayal of both the political and personal lives of the Clintons. The
playwright, Lucas Hnath, clearly drew heavily from aspects of the Clintons’
lives that are well known, although the story was presented as though it may
have taken place on another earth-like planet. The relationship between Hillary
and Bill was often painful to watch. One line that really stuck with us, and
with Ben Brantley, who reviewed the play for the New York Times, was when
Hillary said “I want to stay in this marriage because I want to stay in it,
because I get more out of it than I lose — but Bill, every second that passes I
see myself losing more than I gain.”
The playbill included this little note, but I am not sure I would agree with that description.
We are glad we had this opportunity to see such talented and well-known actors in such fascinating roles.
Love,
Rebecca
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