‘The Taming’ tackles political debate with humor and a heavy hand

Miss Georgia wants to rewrite the Constitution.

But she doesn’t want to do it alone. So she forcibly enlists some support in The Taming, the absurdist political comedy by Lauren Gunderson that opened at a grieving Circle Theatre on Saturday.

Her chosen partners are an unlikely pair: a hard-edged aide of a conservative senator and a frothing liberal with overactive social media accounts who is crusading to save the endangered North American panda shrew (get the joke with the title?). They have names, but in the allegorical context of this play, they are usually identified by a generic titles, like “red state” (Lisa Fairchild as Patricia) and “blue state” (Lauren Ferebee as Bianca). And Miss Georgia (Liz J. Millea as Katherine) also answers to George Washington.

The structure of this often hilarious civics lesson is a cross between Sartre’s No Exit and the musical 1776 (even though the only songs in the show are a few flag-waving numbers delivered by Miss Georgia in her quest for a crown).

The politically savvy beauty queen drugs her chosen henchmen and locks them in a windowless room together. Upon waking, the two hurl insults and political rhetoric at one another, until Miss Georgia enters to explain her bold scheme to rewrite the Constitution and save the country.

The trio’s intense squabbling is interrupted for a flashback, wherein the ladies become our founding fathers debating the content of the document Miss Georgia wants to reboot. Then it’s back to their exitless room for more posturing, pontificating and deal-making.

The greatest strengths of this show are Gunderson’s sharp, witty writing and outstanding performances by all three actresses under the skilled guidance of director Robin Armstrong. All the humor and bite in Gunderson’s text are delivered to the stage in excellent shape.

The creative costuming by Armstrong, which ranges from an American flag-themed pageant outfit to Wonder Woman underwear, further helps bring the laughs up to their maximum potential. And the lighting (by John Leach) and sound (by David Lambert) are also well done.

There are, however, some aspects of this script that might put off some patrons. Since the characters are built on types more than reality, they tend to speak in slogans and epigrams. This show is proud to stay on its soapbox throughout. While it does make a stab at maintaining some balance (both sides of the current political spectrum take some good shots), it ultimately comes down exactly where you would expect.

But, in its defense, these would be greater problems if this show did not manage to be so entertaining while preaching at us.

So if you are not deeply sick of all things political at this point, this comedy offers plenty of fun along with its history lessons and self-righteous speeches. Better get it while you can. This show, which is receiving its North Texas premiere with this production, is so “of the moment” that it is not likely to have a shelf life beyond the first week of November.

This breath of comedic air also comes at an opportune time for Circle Theatre, which is currently trying to recover from the death of its co-founder, executive director and guiding light, Rose Pearson, on Friday. Saturday’s opening-night performance featured some incredible displays of courage by the actors, Armstrong (who has long been one of Pearson’s favorite directors) and the rest of the theater’s staff, who had to be in deep pain.

To acknowledge the sadness felt by all the friends of Circle, and honor Pearson, each of the performers emerged for their curtain calls carrying single red roses, which were left on the stage when they exited. It was a sweet and touching gesture to close the curtain on a production that the deeply missed Pearson would have been proud to see.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 12:06 PM with the headline "‘The Taming’ tackles political debate with humor and a heavy hand."