Ah, American politics. There’s nothing quite like it. But what do you do when the “leader” is afraid of the public, and public speaking, in fact even meeting people?
That’s the dilemma of Dave Riley (Adam Daniel), chief of staff to newly named Governor Ned Newley (Robert May), the ultimate policy nerd who is afraid of crowds larger than one.
Scripps Ranch Theatre presents playwright Paul Slade Smith’s hilarious (and sometimes horrifying) satire of the voting process “The Outsider” through Oct. 9.
Here’s the setup: The elected governor, forced to resign when he was caught in a sex scandal, is replaced by his extremely competent (at number-crunching) lieutenant governor Newley, who knows everything but how to talk to more than one person at a time. He stumbles into the office sweating profusely, leaving Dave and pollster Paige Caldwell (Deborah Dodaro) to figure out how to sell him as a leader.
Enter famous political strategist Arthur Vance (John Nutten), who decides to make Ned into a political superstar, not by changing him but by selling him as is. After all, what’s more relatable to voters than someone “real” like us who doesn’t spout boring stats? “Unprepared is where it’s at,” Vance notes.
Vance is helped by newly hired temp (and utterly incompetent secretary) Louise Peakes (Michelle Marie Trester), who fumbles her way into the job of lieutenant governor on her first day at work.
The only two characters left to meet are efficient TV reporter Rachel Parsons (Leigh Akin) – annoyed that she’s not allowed to ask hard-hitting questions – and her very able cameraman AC Petersen (Walter Murray).
The cast is excellent all around. Daniel’s chief of staff Dave does it all with his face, as he responds to what he hears.
May does it with his body – the slouches, the collapses, the tentativeness. It’s an astonishing performance.
Trester’s hopeless but hilarious temp Louise (later Lulu) is charmingly annoying and a kick to watch.
John Nutten’s pushy Vance just announces how things are going to be and…they are.
Leigh Akin and Walter Murray, the TV reps, just do their jobs. And, incidentally, Dave takes a bit of a liking to Rachel. Will that work out? See for yourself.
Bravo to Christopher Williams' sure-handed direction. The sets by Alyssa Kane, costumes by Pam Stompoly-Ericson, sound by Ted Leib and lighting by Jared Jacobs all add to the atmosphere.
The selling of American candidates has become even more important (and often horrifying) since this play was written in 2015 and TV took an even greater role in politics. But with “The Outsider” you can still see the funny side of it.
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