Big Egos Stirred With Wit In 'Five Presidents'

Five guys in a room who have shared the same big job would inevitably lead to a lot of joshing around and slightly veiled gibes. When the job in question is president of the United States, there’s a lot of grist for that mill to grind.

It grinds exceedingly well in Bay Street Theater’s production of “Five Presidents,” which opened last weekend in Sag Harbor. Playwright Rick Cleveland’s nearly new comedy/drama is wickedly clever and fast paced, delivering an evening of recent history peppered with a heavy dose of sarcasm and wit. Delicious!

“Five Presidents” debuted earlier this year at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and this staging imports the director, Mark Clements, along with most of the original cast, production crew and set.

The situation is this: all the men/egos—POTUS from 38 (Gerald Ford) to 42 (Clinton, who is a year into office)—gather together in a room with a well-stocked bar just before the funeral of another one of their select crew, Richard Nixon. It’s April 27, 1994. They were all at the funeral, to be sure, but this envisioning is pure fiction—though one can imagine the scene just as Mr. Cleveland has scripted it.

President George W. Bush hasn’t even been governor of Texas yet—and his dad, portrayed by Mark Jacoby, isn’t sure he’s the bright bulb of his sons. Clinton, acted by Brit Whittle, is still dealing with the name of Gennifer Flowers and the Whitewater miasma, which we the audience know will get worse. Ford, portrayed by John Bolger, is haunted because his legacy will be writ in four words: “He pardoned Tricky Dick.” Carter, played by Martin L’Herault, is just back from trying to broker peace on Bosnia—the statesman dealing with that unfortunate phrase of “lust in his heart,” which he grumbles was misquoted. And Reagan, acted by Steve Sheridan, is the enthusiastic, glad-handing president-as-actor dealing with creeping Alzheimer’s.

Mr. Cleveland, a veteran writer of irreverent shows such as “The West Wing,” “Six Feet Under” and “House of Cards,” not surprisingly gives his presidential characters dialogue that is always sharp and hits the mark. The dramedy—it’s not all laughs and taunts—is an abbreviated lesson in the main catastrophes of each man’s tenure and a reminder that no matter who has gone into the job, and with whatever ideals of this or that program he would have liked to achieve, outside events are not under the control of the president.

George H.W. Bush blames losing the election on “that crazy little rat bastard” Perot. Clinton talks about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but in such a way that it presages his own “don’t ask, don’t tell” moment that is yet years ahead, maxing out the humor. He wonders why people laugh when he jogs to McDonald’s.

The group can’t decide whether a black man or a woman is likely to be president first. Carter quotes Bobby Kennedy, who predicted in 1968 that a black man would be president in 40 years. Of course, you’re immediately counting in your head to see how close he came.

Clinton gives a quick history lesson that compresses what all of us past age 40 should remember about the difficulties of each one’s term of office: Ford had the Watergate mop-up and Vietnam; Carter had the Iran hostage and energy crisis; Reagan had the air traffic controllers strike, the assassination attempt, the invasion of Grenada—and Iran-Contra; Bush had that mess in Panama, the Gulf War and, Clinton is happy to point out, a $220 billion deficit.

Of himself, he notes that he had an attack on the World Trade Center—the first attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor—Somalia “and that clusterf--k at Waco.”

Director Clements, in his third production of the play, moves the 85-minute dramedy along as smartly as the dialogue. A small plaint is that the action does get a little bogged down near the end when Reagan is going off on a fugue about the now-deceased Hollywood agent Swifty Lazar and that unfortunate movie “Bedtime for Bonzo” in which he, Reagan, starred with the chimp.

Despite the above, Mr. Sheridan gives the standout performance as the larger-than-life Reagan, with his forceful physical presence and baritone resonance. Also particularly notable is Mr. Jacoby as Bush, with his near constant finger twitch. While Ford wasn’t the president who will be remembered for what he did, here his character has some of the best lines and the most stage time.

The mood turns poignant at the end when Ford pulls out a piece of paper that he’s been carrying in his wallet for 20 years. It’s a quote from a 1915 Supreme Court case about a crooked newspaper editor who was pardoned by Woodrow Wilson for refusing to testify in a grand jury proceeding. Clinton reads:

The Justices found that a pardon carries an acceptance and a confession of guilt."

That’s about right. The play ends soon after with a somber note when Secret Service agent Michael Kirby, portrayed by Reese Madigan, who opens the room at the beginning, comes back to close it down, and a voiceover recites a memorable part of Nixon’s farewell speech.

Your appreciation of the “thinly veiled shit”—I’m quoting here—that they fling at one another will be in direct proportion to your knowledge of recent history and how closely you follow politics. For me, well, I’m the kind of political junkie who loved “Five Presidents.”

The play, that is.

“Five Presidents” will stage every day, through Sunday, July 19, at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. No show Mondays; matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Tickets start at $53.75. For a complete list of show times and more information, call (631) 725-9500, or visit baystreet.org.

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