Sunday, May 27, 2012
David Auburn's work has not spoken to me in the past (yes, Proof, I know - but it just didn't seem that appealing to me) so I wasn't gung-ho about seeing this play. When I learned about the subject matter, I thought it might be up my alley - and indeed it was.
Jonathan Mandell's write up of the play in Playbill Magazine describes the trajectory of Joseph Alsop's career as one in which he went from being one of the most influential players in American media on politics to being nearly forgotten by history. This to me was fascinating in our world of the 24 hour cable news world, where bloviating idiots can shape elections and entire political agendas - and Alsop was no different. Apart from the history, Mr. Auburn's play is captivating as we know that the character (if not the man) is a war mongering asshole obsessed with American exceptionalism (sound familiar?), and though we know we are to hate him, our hearts cleverly break for him. This is in part due to Mr. Auburn's exceptional writing and also to do with John Lithgow's inviting performance.
Jonathan Haidt at the University of Virginia has just written a book about this historical dichotomy that has escaped modern American society - being able to disagree with the policy positions of the other side, but understanding that they too wanted the best for the country and were not just evil. It was a different time, and it was nice to see a concrete representation of what that time might have looked like.
The Columnist is playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway. Tickets can be purchased here.
You can watch an Episode of PBS' Moyer's & Company where Bill Moyers interviews Jonathan Haidt about his book here.
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