Jordan Wright
July 13, 2017
Edward Gero as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
Welcome back Supreme Court Justice Antonin “Nino” Scalia! A lot has happened since Ed Gero inhabited your body. Donald Trump became our president (I think you would have been delighted) and the whole Roe v. Wade thing continues to be a hot button issue which might tickle you as a strict constitutionalist.
As you may recall Gero brilliantly portrayed you in a tour de force performance in The Originalist in 2015 shortly before you left this earth in 2016. Was that the nail in the coffin? On a lighter note you’ll be pleased to know your legacy has carried on much as you had hoped, with your alma mater Harvard University establishing a professorship in your name. Unfortunately, George Mason University, who got a cool $30 million to rename its law school after you, chose the initialization ASSol for Antonin Scalia School of Law, which became the “butt” of many jokes. As of this writing your place in history is secure, and you can stop spinning in your grave in that it has been more appealingly amended to read ASLS. – – Yours truly, J. Wright
Having reviewed Arena’s initial production in the Spring of 2015, I can say that this one is snappier, more irreverent, if that’s possible, and just as timely as my first viewing when Playwright John Strand was Arena’s Resident Playwright. Its unprecedented success inspired Director Molly Smith’s “Power Plays” initiative in which the theatre commissions 25 new plays or musicals focusing on American political history. These will reflect Presidential Voices, Women’s Voices, African-American Voices, Musical Theatre Voices and Insider Voices.
(L to R) Edward Gero as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Jade Wheeler as Cat. Photo by Gary W. Sweetman, Asolo Repertory Theatre.
In this refresh the role of Cat (Jade Wheeler), Scalia’s liberal law clerk intern, has been purposely expanded. She is given a lot more lines – and latitude. And Wheeler takes it on with brio, charm, feistiness and terrific comic timing. The broadening of her role goes towards leveling the playing field between Cat the progressive liberal vs. Scalia the combative, law-and-order conservative and adds measurably to the sharp-as-knives verbal sparring. “Law is carved in stone,” and “Emotion is whatever you had for breakfast,” warns Scalia. References to Facebook, Politico and recent past Presidents keep it updated.
Accompanied by interstices of grandiose operatic arias (the Sicilian-born Scalia was a known opera buff as well as gun rights advocate), he delivers arguments and pronouncements like bullets on a battlefield, but so does, Cat, an equally cerebral Harvard Law grad determined to change his mind. “I dissent!” is his most oft repeated line from the man who once had acting aspirations. He later confesses, “The court is my theatre. I am not an ideologue. I am an originalist!”
(L to R) Jade Wheeler as Cat and Brett Mack as Brad. Photo by Gary W. Sweetman, Asolo Repertory Theatre.
In explaining his reason for hiring her he reveals, “Every now and then I like to have a liberal around. It reminds of how right I am.” Cat, who views the court as a “fantasy palace”, is determined to upend his intransigence. She seeks his heart, while he wants her soul. “You’re stuck alone in your bunker. Your constitution is just a shield you hide behind,” she mocks, defining his brand of government a “monsterocracy”.
Strand uses the Supreme Court’s decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as the centerpiece for the characters’ arguments pitting Scalia’s strict interpretation of the law as it was written centuries ago against Cat’s humanistic philosophy. Yet notwithstanding their legal and psychological parrying, there develops a firm respect, moreover an admiration, for one another’s unflinching will and unwavering opinions. It’s irresistible to anyone interested in the workings of the law, SCOTUS or the evolution of the Court’s decisions.
Setting the tone and highlighting the majesty and gravity of the Court and its private chambers, Lighting Designer Colin K. Bills gives us two massive crystal chandeliers in order to appropriately frame the pronouncements from Scalia’s Kingly Court of Conservatism. Set Designer Mischa Kachman adds floor-to-ceiling red velvet drapes trimmed with golden tassels: lest you forget the import of where you are.
Highly recommended.
Through August 6th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.