by Jeff Grygny
“We should have won—in fact, we did win.” With this oxymoronic sentence, the 45th president opened his 60 odd days of counterfactual and highly illegal gambits to retain the power he’d been voted out of. He failed, only because of a small corps of officials who were unwilling to play along. But there were many who were all too willing—and that is the story of Red, White, and Coup, a gripping, 2 1/2 hour spectacle by Quasimondo Physical Theatre, created to coincide with that same person’s re-anointment as Republican candidate, right here in the “horrible” city of Milwaukee. This an important work of theater, performed with artistry and integrity. Everyone should see this show, as a clear reminder of the enormity of DJT and cohort’s actions, with the fate of the nation, the world, the planet, even, seemingly at stake. It’s all too much—but the intrepid company rises to the occasion.
Director/playwright Brian Rott spent six months researching the January 6th Select Senate committee hearings, plus memoirs and accounts by the men and women close to the action, to dramatize and illuminate the news we all read about. It plays like a Greek tragedy with evil clowns: there’s a grinding sense of inevitability, and yet we can’t look away. Guided by accounts from William Barr, Mike Pence, Cassidy Hutchinson, and others, Rott brings each scene to vivid life. All the familiar players make their appearances, from the “My Pillow guy” to the con man in chief. Even Wisconsin’s plutocratic Senator Ron Johnson gets in on the act.
The first hour of the play details DJT’s response to Biden’s win: complete denial, ordering scores of spurious lawsuits. We meet Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell, the only lawyers deranged enough to buy into the idea at the beginning. Later, we see law professor John Eastman concoct the infamous “alternative elector” scheme. Eventually, Attorney General Barr’s refuses to declare the election stolen, leading to his resignation (and not being invited to the White House Christmas party). We witness Mike Pence’s agonizing between his duty to the president and his loyalty to the constitution.
Legal maneuvers, even scurrilous ones, don’t exactly lend themselves to compelling theater, but Rott knows the power of re-enacting it all. He brings even this uninspiring material to life with creative flourishes, surreal comedy, and the impressive talents of 7 dedicated actors playing over 50 characters. The characterizations rarely rise above the level of caricature. It’s like watching an extended political cartoon: they don’t tell us who these people are; they simply show us what they documentedly did. And it works. With a few mannerisms and costume pieces, we see Powell as a leopard-clad loony; Eastman as a wild-eyed mad scientist; Pence as a stiff board (no great leap there), with his conscience imagined, like Pinocchio’s Jiminy Cricket, as the infamous fly that sat on Pence’s head during the debate.
The most powerful scene departs from the legal record to give attention to some of the capitol rioters—still cartoons, but drawn with compassion. We hear some of their voices: middle-class people whom the system has failed, for whom the term “white privilege” can be nothing but a cruel insult. In a brilliant use of visual language, a masked figure with the letter Q on his face sits at the presidential desk typing, typing: lies and incitements, while the people’s rage grows. When DJT issues his invitation to a big rally in Washington DC. It’s like dropping a match on a pool of carefully-poured gasoline.
The staging of the riot is visceral and terrifying, with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cowering behind a podium while zip-tie man calls out “Nancy, come out and play,” like a horror movie psychopath. Cassidy Hutchinson’s account takes us right into the White House, including her being creepily groped by Giuliani as a factotum stands by grinning. Melania and Ivanka make their cameos, and finally, we hear DJT’s message to the rioters:“We love you, you’re very special.”
The actors give every role a sense of urgency and humanity, rarely stooping to outright villianization (DJT and Barr share a wicked laugh over putting immigrant children in cages, but that’s about the extent of the judgment offered). Cat Sadler does a mean Mitch McConnell impression; Emily Scholtka brings a bewildered pathos to Jacob Chansley, the Q Anon Shaman; Mara Grigg gives the roles of Giuliani and Ted Cruz gleeful energy; A heartful Matt Koehn shows us Pence’s ethical crisis; Selena Milewski plays Hutchinson’s insurrection day like a journey through a nightmare looking glass; while Sarah Ann Mellstrom makes a demented jack-in-the-box out of Sidney Powell. And without a doubt the Tony should go to Jessi Miller who, in a messy blonde wig and orange face paint, uncannily captures Trump’s mannerisms and inflections, showing him as ultimately a caricature of himself. Not since Charlie Chaplin has a demagogue been so deftly embodied.
Powerful men often cling to power—the story is as old as history. The old firehouse/city hall that houses Red, White, and Coup is a hundred years old, and looks every year of it. Ornate, antique, moldering and musty, the building stands as an architectural metaphor of current American politics. It will take a lot of energy, hard toil, and love to get it into good shape. Let’s hope we can find leaders who are up to the job—or become them ourselves.
Quasimondo Physical Theater presents
Red, White, and Coup
written and directed by Brian Rott
Saturday, July 13th; Sunday, July 14th; Monday, July 15th
Thursday, July 18th; Friday, July 19th; Saturday, July 20th
Thursday, July 25th; Friday, July 26th; Saturday, July 27th
North Milwaukee Arthaus, 5151 N. 35th St., Milwaukee WI 53209
Note: Performance is on the second floor of an historic building, which is not yet ADA accessible.
WARNING: This production contains MATURE language and content.
*A Talkback with the cast and production team will follow each performance.
TICKETS
https://www.quasimondo.org/tickets.html
Online: $25; At-the-door: $30; Student: $20