The story of McCarthyism is long and complicated, but this play neatly condenses it around Senator Smith's 1950 speech, called "A Declaration of Conscience," in which she never mentions the name of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin, but rather calls upon her own party to not fall prey to his scare tactics, and instead remember American citizens' rights, including: "The right to criticize; The right to hold unpopular beliefs; The right to protest; The right of independent thought." Rights that feel in danger today. The play is constructed with alternating monologues by the four characters (Smith, McCarthy, and their aides) along with scenes of their interactions. We witness the meet-not-so-cute between the alcoholic homophobic misogynist McCarthy and the new Senator from Maine, the former's game-changing speech in which he announces (without evidence) that there are communists within the government, and the latter's rebuttal, for which she received very little support from her fellow senators. The two senators continue to meet, negotiate, and argue, until McCarthy tries to get her out of office by supporting a candidate against her in the primary (sound familiar?). We also witness interpersonal scenes between the characters; McCarthy eventually marries his aide Jean, and Smith's aide Bill is gay, a fact that McCarthy tries to use to blackmail the Senator. Eventually McCarthy goes too far, in his alcoholism and his accusations, while Smith continued to serve in the Senate for almost 25 years, holding the record for longest serving female Senator well into this century. But how many people remember her name, compared to the infamous Joseph McCarthy? Maybe a few more people will, thanks to this play.
Sophie Peyton directs the play at a good pace, balancing the monologues and scenes, and while I would advocate for making this a 90-minute-no-intermission play, the intermission comes at a good moment and serves a dramatic purpose. This is a small cast with nowhere to hide, and each of these four actors is up to the task. They all thoroughly embody their character. Alison Anderson is tough and smart as Senator Chase, but also human, and at times even funny. Ron Lamprecht is so good at being bad, very convincing as the charming but disgusting McCarthy. Tim Wollman's Bill is Senator Smith's best supporter who would do anything for her, including resign; the two have a very believable friendship that's really the heart of this story. Last but not least, Mary Lofreddo's Jean is the epitome of a smart and confident young woman, who falls for the wrong man.
The majority of the play takes place in senate offices, represented in this play as a raised square platform that appears to be bursting out of the Constitution displayed on the floor, shreds of it surrounding the office. A couple of scenes take place on the train to the offices, represented by a walkway off to one side. The play is dynamically staged in the in-the-round space, with monologues being delivered to all sides, scenes in the center around a solid wooden desk. The actors rarely leave the stage, instead sitting in chairs on the sidelines until called into a scene. The costumes are appropriately conservative and a little boring, except for Jean's red smashing pumps, with a few thoughtfully selected props like the vintage briefcases. (Set design by Sadie Ward, lighting design by Lily K. Petit, costume design by Bejou Leifeld, prop design by Mark Steffer, sound design by Warren Sampson.)
I didn't go to the protests yesterday, but I commend everyone who did, as well as theaters like Theatre in the Round who are producing art that is also a form of protest. Art that reminds us of our history and holds a mirror up to our society today. That reminds us of challenging times in the past that we overcame, thanks to the bold actions of one individual like Senator Margaret Chase Smith, who put her conscience above her party, or millions of individuals who banded together to make a statement that is impossible to ignore.
