Two weeks ago, I saw The Best Man (written by Gore Vidal) on Broadway.
I previously didn't know much of anything about Gore Vidal.
The play starred James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, John Stamos, Cybill Shepherd, Kristen Davis and Angela Lansbury.
It was set in the 1960 "Nominating Convention" and debuted in 1960.
John Stamos' character is basically a combination of George W. Bush and Karl Rove - a straight-laced, religious non-intellectual concerned with politicking, will do anything to win and is wanting to delve into dirty personality politics. And John Larroquette's character is a philandering, intellectual, areligious character concerned with policy and ethics and wanting to avoid everything to do with dirty politics because he views it as a distraction from policy.
And the whole plot of Best Man surrounds all the backdoor dealing that goes on in politics and is essentially a character/behavior/philosophical comparison of the two men's approach to politics.
It made me wonder what personalities Gore VIdal based the two main characters on & what politics & people's awareness of politics were like in 1960 because everyone/thing in the play seems so current and relavent. The backdoor, dirty polliticking that's the center of the plot - while known to everyone nowadays - must have been somewhat of a revelation to a 1960 audience.
I previously didn't know much of anything about Gore Vidal.
The play starred James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, John Stamos, Cybill Shepherd, Kristen Davis and Angela Lansbury.
It was set in the 1960 "Nominating Convention" and debuted in 1960.
John Stamos' character is basically a combination of George W. Bush and Karl Rove - a straight-laced, religious non-intellectual concerned with politicking, will do anything to win and is wanting to delve into dirty personality politics. And John Larroquette's character is a philandering, intellectual, areligious character concerned with policy and ethics and wanting to avoid everything to do with dirty politics because he views it as a distraction from policy.
And the whole plot of Best Man surrounds all the backdoor dealing that goes on in politics and is essentially a character/behavior/philosophical comparison of the two men's approach to politics.
It made me wonder what personalities Gore VIdal based the two main characters on & what politics & people's awareness of politics were like in 1960 because everyone/thing in the play seems so current and relavent. The backdoor, dirty polliticking that's the center of the plot - while known to everyone nowadays - must have been somewhat of a revelation to a 1960 audience.
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