Date: Fri 23-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Wasserstein-Long-Wharf

Full Text:

THEATRE REVIEW: Masterful Wasserstein At Long Wharf II

(with cut)

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN -- By way of apology for derailing her confirmation as Surgeon

General, Timber Tucker, the television interviewer whose burnished hair and

throaty masculine voice are his only claim to substance, confides to the

heroine Lyssa Dent Hughes, his "chaos theory of broadcasting: No matter what

is said on the airwaves, it will all be totally forgotten within three

minutes."

Perhaps this is why Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter , now on stage at

Long Wharf's Stage II, was less than successful when it played Lincoln Center

two years ago. Too many minutes had elapsed since Lani Guinier, Zoe Baird and

Kimba Wood were left twisting in the wind by a President quick to take credit

for opening up important jobs to qualified women, but lacking the moral fiber

to stand behind his candidates once media exploitation of alleged infractions

in their past led to a dip in opinion polls.

Lyssa, a descendent of Ulysses Grant and daughter of a prominent conservative

senator, is a modern wonder woman: a respected hospital director and professor

of public health at Georgetown University, she is also a beautiful and

charming wife and mother who bakes for her family and attends her twin sons'

soccer games. When the play opens, she is awaiting the senate confirmation of

her appointment as the next Surgeon General.

Clearly she is a shoo-in for the job. But in a television news magazine

interview meant as a puff piece on Lyssa's ability to balance all her roles, a

spiteful family "friend" points out that she once forgot to answer a summons

to jury duty which came just as she was about to leave for an out-of-town

lecture tour.

Within days this issue of Lyssa's "lack of civic responsibility" is turned

into a "jurygate" scandal by aggressive media coverage. Various "talking

heads" are invited to offer their analysis of the subject on weekend news

programs -- including the up-and-coming voice of feminism, Quincy Quince (who

just happens to be having a fling with Lyssa's husband), her graduate school

mentor and the bold young neo-conservative and openly gay pro-lifer, Morrow

McCarthy (who just happens to be the family friend who "inadvertently"

mentioned the jury duty).

Soon public opinion polls are diverted from the weighty question of whether

the First Family Pet should be a dog as opposed to a cat, and Timber Tucker

announces in his gravest tones that American sentiments are now running

four-to-one against Lyssa's appointment... Can slick young Billy Robbins,

Lyssa's father's political consultant, help her salvage things?

But this play is far more than a political roman a clef, in which a discerning

viewer can speculate as to the real identities of Lyssa, her father the

conservative senator, as well as Timber, Quincy and Morrow.

An American Daughter is Wasserstein's take on the course of feminism and

American liberalism in general. Lyssa and her best friend, Judith Kaufman,

grew up in a time when they had to fight tremendous discrimination and gender

bias in order to earn their medical degrees and achieve high level jobs in

their respective professions.

Motivated by determination and ambition they each succeeded, but the force of

their struggle has created vulnerabilities. Now in their forties they still

are driven by the need to be perfect, and troubled by the anxiety that in some

way they may not be able to do so.

Meanwhile, Quincy, at age 22 the author of the latest doctrine on feminism,

has been able to take for granted the opportunities the older women fought

for. Women's Studies has become a specialized field within the sociology

curriculum, and Quincy can concern herself with the question of how to enjoy

the privileges of equality without having to pay any personal price.

It is not just feminism that has been so co-opted. All the impassioned

movements of the Sixties in which earnest true believers faced ridicule, jail

and even death (for standing up against the Vietnam War, Southern segregation,

and the pervasive sexism that shaped our society), yielded many victories and

the generation who reaped the benefits of their parents' sacrifices has grown

up relatively free from the constrictions of institutionalized exclusion.

Unfortunately this generation, too often, is also free from the sense of

unselfish commitment that inspired the protests.

Lyssa's father, the conservative Senator Alan Hughes, who disagrees with

everything she stands for (but loves and admires his daughter), is a charming

old coot. Lyssa and Judith, both brave and shaken, are admirable in their

strength.

But in a world dominated by a ratings driven media, searching for the next

"breaking story" that will boost their share, it is ironic and troubling that

the "best and the brightest" representatives of the new generation are an

opportunist, a poseur, and a spinmeister.

With all of this, Wendy Wasserstein is a masterful playwright who creates her

usual mix of humor, dramatic tension, vivid characters and emotional impact.

As with Long Wharf productions in general, the acting is impeccable. This play

is running on the smaller Stage II, and early performances were sold out, as

they should be.