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A CurtainUp Review
A More Perfect Union
By Elyse Sommer
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I don't want to SETTLE, I want to be GREAT. This is my
CALLING, this is my CAREER, all that matters is my REPUTATION.— Maddie, the ambitious lawyer about one of many dirty little secrets that are spilled in the Supreme Court Library that's the setting for A More Perfect Union .
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Melissa Friedman and
Godfrey L. Simmons Jr. in A More Perfect Union
(Photo: Carol Rosegg) |
Vern Thiessen's two-hander, which was commissioned by Epic Theater, sets things up so that the prickly arguments are likely to lead to an opposites-attract romance — Maddie (Melissa Friedman), his female law clerk being a poor Jewish girl from Cleveland and attached to a conservative judge she prefers to call "The Wise One." Fellow clerk James (Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.) is a rich black guy from Atlanta whose boss is liberal whom he prefers to call "The Enlightened One."
Even though both are graduates from one of the elite colleges that in real life, as here, serve as the Supreme Court Justices fishing pool for law clerks, Maddie and James see themselves as outsiders by virtue of her religion and his skin color. So there's a bond of sorts, but given their different background and personalities and the fact that they're on opposite sides, both their legal and personal connection is likely to be knotty. Still, they're both attractive and, with so much time spent pouring over precedent-setting law cases, there's sure to be plenty of pentup sexuality to activate the romantic twist sufficiently to keep all the legalese infused dialogue from turning this into a law primer masquerading as a semi-comic drama. It's also a safe bet that they won't be disturbed in their section of the library (a handsome booklined affair by Troy Hourie) since Lexus and Westway seem to have law books more decorative than regularly opened.
The playwright works hard to give audiences a "dirty little secrets" and all insider look at how the Supreme Court justices decide on what cases to decide on, how they formulate and write their decisions and the way their clerks fit into this picture. He works equally hard to make Maddie and James's back stories and their growing personal relationship an integral part of his story, rather than the sweetener added in the interest of entertainment. Like the court they have worked so hard to be a part of, Maddie and James's relationship is clouded by a "dirty little secret/" Thus, by the end of the final " Argument" (Thiessen's substitute for scene headlines and in the !3th Street Theater projected on a screen placed in the side thrust section usually used as a seating area), we know that the ambitious young lawyers as well as the men and women who rule this most influential of all courts have to keep listening and arguing in order to have a more perfect union — be it a union of man and woman or the union comprising this country's 50 states.
Melissa Friedman, whose wonderful performance in Epic's Hannah and Martin (review) remains fresh in my mind, does what she can with this stereotypical character, as does Godfrey L. Simmons Jr with his. But neither they, director Ron Russell or the handsome staging can save this pat romantic situation from coming off as a soap opera made more flavorful by its Supreme court background. The parallel to the case that Maddy is trying to get past the Rule of Four (the vote of four Justices needed to get a case heard) is more obvious than genuinely organic.
Thiessen doesn't stint on legal banter with references to Supreme Court practices that have been the subject of much criticism but no action. But he seems torn between admiration for a venerated institution and wanting to do a bit of muckraking about the questionable practices the law clerk system has bred: A too heavy reliance on these smart young lawyers to help make decisions and serve as legal ghost writers, and conversely, law clerks happy to take this sure road to plushy careers with higher earnings than those of the justices they worked for.
I suppose you might view Maddie and James as modern versions of Jimmy Stewart as young Mr. Smith who's come to Washington intent on making a difference. Unfortunately, they don't strike me as ideal role models for more idealistic and less interested in filthy lucre future clerks.
Since the program doesn't include any notes about how the job of law clerk has grown and expanded, or a glossary explaining some of the legal references, you can hang around for after-talks scheduled to follow each performance. The invited guests are all law professors who were once Supreme Court law clerks.
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A More Perfect Union Playwright: Vern Thiessen Director Ron Russell Cast: Melissa Friedman (Maddie) and Godfrey L. Simmons Jr. (James) Set: Troy Hourie Lights: Tyler Micoleau Costumes: Theresa Squire Sound: Ron Russell Props Morgan Exkert Stage Manager: Erin Maureen Koster Running Time: 75 minutes without intermission Epic Theatre Ensemble at the East 13th Street Theater 136 East 13th Street, between 3rd & 4th Aves. www.epictheatreensemble.org, or (212) 352-3101 From 5/05/09; opening 5/12/09; closing 6/07009. Tickets $37.50 with a special $10 matinee ticket available during the month of May. Reviewed by Elyse Sommer May 9th |
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Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide