Theater Review—

‘Aphrodisiac’ Offers An Interesting Approach To Politics,

With Strong Acting All Around

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN — The wall outside the auditorium of Long Wharf’s Stage II theater is plastered with a montage of names, faces and quotes — some blatantly recognizable, others teasingly familiar: Donna Rice, Mary Jo Kopechne, Monica Lewinsky — attractive young women whose ties to powerful politicians led to scandal and political disaster.

Even as the actions of Al Queda terrorists  were changing the focus of news coverage, the American media was fixated for most of 2001 and 2002 on the case of California congressman Gary Condit, and his questionable relationship with a suspiciously missing intern, Chandra Levy, whose murdered corpse was finally discovered in a Washington park.

On one level, Condit’s relationship with Ms Levy is the subject of Rob Handel’s play, Aphrodisiac. Apart from changing the names of the protagonists — Condit becomes Dan “Ferris” and Levy becomes “Ilona Wachsman” — Handel sticks to the “facts” of the case as popularized in tabloid journalism. What makes his approach new and interesting is that he tells the story from the viewpoint of  Mr Ferris and Ms Condit’s two grown children.

Avery, who works as an assistant to the Washington Mayor, and his younger sister Alma, visiting from Greenwich Village, are trying to make sense of their father’s behavior — first to reconcile themselves to the fact that he has been having adulterous affairs with young women Alma’s age, and then, as he is castigated by rumor and innuendo repeated hourly on TV news, they grapple with the possibility that he is a murderer.

Their method of trying to understand is to engage in role playing, re-enacting encounters between Ferris and Ilona that might explain why she suddenly disappeared, and having Alma confront her “father” (as played by Avery) demanding to know what he was doing, and why.

Beyond this immediate subject the play tackles the issue of why nubile young women are drawn to men with power, and why the men take advantage of this. As Avery points out,  there are 435 Congressmen who see their wives perhaps once every two weeks, while each year hordes of eager young interns stream into the capitol.

Many Presidents were famous for their dalliances, even if the press was more judicious about revealing what it knew. Only Bill Clinton got the full brunt of public exposure, and so became the poster child for inappropriate carnality.

References to Clinton abound as brother and sister speculate about the psyche of their father and of politicians in general, and include one hilarious riff in which Avery, as his father, recounts a late night cigar party involving himself,  Clinton, Willie Nelson and Keith Richards.

Then the play reaches its finale with a surprise appearance by Monica, who explains her relationship with the President in a touching monologue that is the  most sympathetic vision of Miss Lewinsky that I have ever seen.

This is a short play, filled with clever, snappy dialogue, as befits young big city singles, and the extent to which political careers have been blighted (as well as young women’s lives ruined or lost) makes it a subject worth thinking about.

Rob Campbell and Jennifer Dundas are well suited to the roles of Avery and Alma, and Yetta Gottesman is absolutely terrific as Monica.

(Performances continue Tuesday through Sunday evenings, with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, until January 1.

Call 203-787-4282 for ticket and schedule information.)