There is a note in the Playbill for Corruption the current occupant of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater in Lincoln Center. It’s by the play’s author J.T.Rogers and in it he tells us that his play is about “there and then”and that it is relevant to today in the “here and now.” It deals with the corruption and scandal that colored 2011 in regard to abuse of power by a particular media company. It’s his contention that it is prophetic of a renewed form of corruption that is infecting today’s world as well. He is attempting to teach us to the very specific details of the upheaval in Publisher Rupert Murdock’s world brought about by chicanery and deceit that runs rampant in our current world. It’s a warning bell, and it is earnest and alarming. To my mind however, it is more of a series of shoutouts involving characters from 2011 who spend most of their time attacking each other ending each verbal thrust with an exclamation point.
Seth Numrich, Dylan Baker, Saffron Burrows (T.Charles Erickson)
The characters are all real people from Rupert Murdoch’s world. It’s the playwright’s contention that we can learn from history why we are facing such a divisive current world and warning us to be more diligent in learning from the past. These real people include dozens of those who are cohorts or adversaries in the political society of today. It’s an angry play– one which makes its points with a hammer and tongs; and after 90 minutes of its long first act, I found myself more irritated than moved by its relentless arguments. The playwright seems to be saying that we are doomed if we don’t very soon start to pay attention to the forces that are on a course to destroy the democracy that we fought so hard to enlighten this 21st century.
The cast (T.Charles Erickson)
The play is loaded with dense dialog some of which is lost in the heavy British accents which this cast of talented featured actors rely on. It’s difficult to learn from the program notes which actors are British, for almost all have considerable American credits, achieved at many of our prestigious regional theaters. Mr. Rogers wrote the play after reading Tom Watkins and Martin Hickman’s book Dial M For Murdoch which dealt with these happenings in Britain in 2011. What attracted Mr. Rogers to the material was his enjoyment at discovering the real events of the abuse of power by a particular media company who decided that by raising share prices they could bend the government to their will which threatened democracy itself. The play proposes that theatre is where we can still come together and look at our history to better understand the present. He felt we in America were caught in the middle a similar threat to our democratic ideals. I’ve always avoided politics which made me the wrong fellow to view this very angry play, and I can only report that it was splendidly mounted, made good use of a functional set comprised of movable sections that adroitly allowed for a variety of settings. The large company of thirteen actors played some 35-40 characters (some prominently featured some supporting bit players). Bartlett Sher’s direction constantly flowed, but I was never quite sure who was who and was certain only that though I heard a lot of rhetoric but felt little emotional involvement.