Review: HERE IN AMERICA, Orange Tree Theatre

Veteran stage and screen writer David Edgar has two new plays coming to the UK stage this year, and this first one, Here In America, directed by James Dacre, focuses on two of the most prominent figures in mid-20th century popular culture. 

Elia Kazan, director, and Arthur Miller, writer, meet in 1962 to discuss Miller's new play (unnamed, but it is After The Fall). We find out that something has caused a decade-long breach between them, and a flashback structure then returns us to 1952, Connecticut, to find out what. 

As a film and theatre devotee of this period, I knew going in this was McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee, the purge of Communism in Hollywood. A topic deserving of a meaty and compelling play, and Edgar has form in bringing the personal and political together in his brilliant Destiny.

Here In America is a four-hander, as alongside Kazan and Miller are their muses, Molly Kazan and Marilyn Monroe. It's always a challenge for any actress to portray Monroe as she is such an iconic and recognisable figure. Jasmine Blackborow plays her in this play (billed as 'Miss Bauer') and although she doesn't quite capture her exuberance and charisma, she does portray a vulnerable person with daddy issues well.

Elia Kazan (billed as 'Gadg' and played by Shaun Evans), is shown as a character with some moral weakness, able to betray his friends to the Committee for the good of his career, but offering a sense of unspoken regret. I clearly remember the controversy when he received a special Oscar late in life, in 1999, when some of the starry audience refused to stand for him. Decisions cut deep, and their consequences last a long time.

Arthur Miller (played by Michael Aloni) is the strongest character in this play, a man of principle and buoyancy, sure in his assertion that anti-capitalism is the right route for the modern America. Although there were a few minor line fluffs on press night, he has captured the spirit of the young playwright who created such challenging works as Death of a Salesman.

The women come across with less aplomb. Marilyn Monroe is often seen as an invisible influence and narrator to Miller's conscience, but this doesn't quite come off. Was Miller really obsessed for this long with a woman he only married in 1956, and is it really necessary to use a large portion of an 80-minute play to comment on her intimate involvement with both Kazan and Miller?

This leaves Molly Kazan (billed as 'Day' and played by Faye Castelow), wife of the great director and shown as a cynical, sarcastic anti-Communist. I felt there was much more to her than Edgar writes here, and found myself wanting to hear more of her story and fight. With this and choosing to stay with a profilic cheater in an uneasy marriage, there is definite scope for a play on her alone. 

Here In America was a play I came to with high expectations, but it fell somewhat short for me, with a plot adding little to what we already know, and with nothing much to offer to audiences not already interested in the characters or the topic. Little touches like the scrabble game were interesting but then forgotten, a later speech by Monroe about standing up to racism felt a little forced. 

There is a strong play within Here In America, but it would benefit from being stripped back to the essentials - less Marilyn Monroe, more Marxism. 

Here In America continues at the Orange Tree Theatre until 19th October 2024.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

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