BWW Reviews: ZOMBIE: THE AMERICAN Creeps into Woolly Mammoth

If the dystopian future of Robert O'Hara's new satirical look of American politics come true, there will be a few changes to the nation as we know it. The Presidency will return to Lordships and Ladies due to removing all nuclear weapons because of the "India Incident". The west coast of the US will be in a civil war against the east, Cotton XP will be a prime commodity, the United African Nations will want to invade the US, and oh, there are zombies running a shadow government in the basement of the White House (which now resides inside Mount Rushmore).

Lately the dystopian future seems to be the new fad (The Hunger Games) as well as zombie apocalypse (The Walking Dead). O'Hara in his mostly effective play tries to capitalize on that with Zombie: The American which is premiering at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Zombie is less about zombies and more about Americans, particularly how the future has unfolded in just 50 years from now.

It's the eve of the 2064 Presidential Election and the nation's first openly gay President, Lord President Thom Valentine, is battling many fronts: his cheating spouse, Chase; his election opponent, Gov. Lloyd; and the impending threat of invasion from Sec. General of the United African Nations Abidemi. And he has a council of zombies that he consults.

Overall, O'Hara's script is full of dark humor even if a bit verbose. The 2 hour and fifteen minute piece is a good run time for the play but has too many subplots that don't really get fleshed out (Abidemi's sister arrives to seek vengeance and then gone). But it is still a fine piece even with the few shortcomings. As is the case with world premieres, subsequent productions will usually tightened up the script.

Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz has yet again conducted a finely tuned chorus of actors. Recent Helen Hayes Award Winner, Dawn Ursula (as Sec. Abidemi and her sister) as well as Woolly Company Member and DC acting legend Sarah Marshall are the two standouts. Ursula is a master of vocal inflection that makes a line read somewhat of a master class, and the always adept Marshall said more with her expressions than she did with the dialogue. Marshall, particularly, gets the most laughs without actually going for a laugh, which shows her true comedy genius.

As President Valentine, Sean Meehan is very earnest in his portrayal of the conflicted President who must solve many problems and Meehan is able to show the conflict very well. James Seol (as First Gentlemen Seol) and Luigi Sottile (as the Guard/Butler/Chief of Staff) are both well cast both physically and in terms of ability.

The final piece of the cast is the trio of zombies running their own Congress: Jessica Frances Dukes, Tim Getman, and Tomas Keegan. The trio are exceptional at playing the "undead" with bold physical and vocal choices that don't fall into "zombie-cliché".

The other remarkable piece is Misha Kachman's brilliant two level set, that sets the Oval Office against a dark and dreary background that shows the cave the White House now exists in. Assuming the future government moved the entire building into Mount Rushmore, Kachman's set makes the Woolly space dark and moody and full of mechanical details (Kudos to the Woolly scene shop for executing this). Colin K. Bills' lights keep the dark cavern dim and eerily creepy while enhancing the set with lighting elements. Ivania Stack also nailed what a future President might wear, plus her zombie costumes are very "colonial".

Overall, Woolly's final production of the season is well crafted. The future Oval Office sits about a mile away from the actual Oval Office and while sitting in Woolly's theater you feel like you are witnessing a piece of (fictional) history unfold.

Zombie: The American plays through June 21, 2015 at Woolly Mammoth -641 D St NW, Washington, DC 20004

Box Office: 202-393-3939 or online.

Photo credit: Stan Barouh

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