"The Totalitarians" is a Dark Comedy About Politics Gone Awry
This photo features Haley Ebina in the role of Francine. Photo by Testaduro Media, LLC.
When Peter Sinn Nachtrieb wrote the pitch-black comedy The Totalitarians back in 2015, he could not have imagined our current political landscape and its level of dysfunction. The current state of our fragile union – that our country has become even more polarized, our elections more fraught, and our collective decisions based even more on fear and anger than facts – makes the The Constructivists’ current production of this dystopian story even more topical. Even more terrifying. Even more essential, as the midterm elections creep closer. Running through October 29 at the Interchange Theater Co-op, it is a visceral, compelling reminder of the danger – and power – inherent in manipulating the masses by simply validating their rage.
The Totalitarians begins with a moderately unhappy couple whose disregard for each other’s needs means they can’t even manage to go out to dinner together. Francine (Rebekah Farr) is a frustrated political campaign manager who has seen her career possibilities plummet since her physician husband Jeffrey (Matthew Scales) decided to relocate the couple to the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska. The only job she can find is working for a profoundly stupid, unqualified, and gaffe-prone candidate for governor whose best quality, according to Francine, is her perfect hair.
Francine’s husband Jeffrey is equally frustrated by his wife’s disinterest in starting a family and the looming task of telling one of his patients about a terminal illness. As he sees Francine succeed in marketing her dubious candidate, Jeffrey is also unsettled by her willingness to prioritize her own success over the welfare of the electorate. And he is aching for someone to actually talk to – which makes him the perfect target for his patient’s conspiracy theories. In this quickly escalating, dystopian scenario, this volatile combination of desperate people leads to explosive, devastating, bloody consequences.
In the leading role of Francine, the show’s assistant director Farr stepped in for opening night after the regular cast member (Haley Ebinal) lost her voice during tech week. And in the tradition of understudies saving the day in 2022, Farr was absolutely flawless in the part. She was letter perfect on her many, many lines and even executed fight choreography and intimate scenes without a moment of hesitation. Farr also captured Francine’s wide-eyed desperation in managing the election campaign of a loose canon, slightly menacing Sarah Palin look-alike. This contrasts with her increasingly strained relationship with her husband (a silent scene the morning after a fight is genius) and the surprising comfort and commonality she finds in the literal “strange bedfellow” that politics produces. If she had rehearsed the part for months, her performance would garner high marks. The fact that Farr did it so brilliantly on the fly is miraculous. Kudos to her, and the castmates who helped her jump in at the literal last second.
Photo by Testaduro Media, LLC.
As the (mostly) good guy Jeffrey, Scales is also a delight. He morphs from mild-mannered doctor who relies on his wife’s way with words to soothe patients, to a man filled with paranoia, heartbreak, and injustice that needs to be avenged. His epiphany speech in the second act is absolutely astonishing – the pacing and ramp up to an unbridled, inarticulate emotional volcano is handled marvelously. And the fact that his journey from bystander to potential terrorist is so measured ensures that he never loses credibility with the audience. A vulnerable man caught in unfortunate circumstances, it’s instead a plausible path from logic to mania and back again.
As Ben, the terminally ill conspiracy theorist with a closet full of tinfoil hats at home, Ekene Ikegwuani is menacing and unpredictable. Though his delivery was often rushed and repetitive, frequently burying the ends of his sentences, he communicates the emotional heart of the character clearly. The only things Ben says that are more shocking than the convoluted allegations that big brother is behind Penny’s meteoric rise in the polls, are the moments of clarity and truth that he utters at the play’s end.
This photo features Haley Ebina in the role of Francine. Photo by Testaduro Media, LLC.
Maggie Marks plays Penny, the chronically inappropriate, bizarrely hypersexual, bored housewife who decides to run for political office so she could get some attention while spending a lot of her husband’s money. She dresses and looks the part of former roller-derby queen in hot pink, snakeskin prints, black knee-high boots and hair that is larger than life. (Nice costume design by Maya Danks.) Marks uses the Sarah Palin accent to emphasize some similarities to the character, and does an amazing job with Penny’s completely nonsensical, but convincing campaign speeches. Leading with her gyrating hips as she slinks across the stage, Marks overplays her character’s uncontrollable lust a bit, but ably reinforces the volatility of the world’s worst candidate for office.
Directed at a brisk pace by The Constructivists’ artistic director Jaimelyn Gray, the action moves fast enough that there is little time to think about some of the absurd and fantastic lines being uttered onstage, but listen for these gems:
“Maybe helping a stupid person win an election just to feel good about yourself is a little cynical.”
“You don’t have to believe in facts, you just have to know them.”
“There is a potent and powerful rage in the world to be tapped.”
And then listen to your gut after the play is over and know that your vote in November really does matter. Use it wisely.