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'Continental Divide' By Roberta Kent Special to the Tidings "Continental Divide" is an ambitious project indeed. When both the Oregon Shakespeare Fest-ival and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre each asked Tony Award-winning British playwright David Edgar to write a play for their company two years ago, Edgar suggested writing a two-play cycle as a collaboration be-tween the two theaters. "Cont-inental Divide" which had its world premiere on March 1, is the result. Edgar is known as a writer of political theater. This time, he took reflections on the Amer-ican political scene gleaned from over 20 years of travel through the U.S. and crafted two plays, "Daughters of the Revolution" and "Mothers Against," that examine, with passion and humor, the two major American political parties and the spectrum of thought in each. The plays each stand alone, but to really appreciate the playwright's vision, see both. It doesn't matter which one you see first - and you will probably want to go back and see the one you saw first after you see the second. They interact and interconnect in unexpected ways. What David Edgar is trying to say with these two plays is that the two extremes of our current political expression have more in common than they think. Both the present-day left and right grew out of the opposition movements of the 60's, which in turn, grew out of the era of the Cold War and McCarthyism in the 50s. Each side sees the other as hypocritical, one-dimensional and na�ve. Edgar traces today's left's roots to the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the counter-culture movement. He sees the right's roots as the Goldwater campaign, the New Right and the Moral Majority. The two plays have their nexus in a gubernatorial campaign in an unnamed "large western state." (You would have to have been in a coma for the last twenty years not to recognize it as California.) Demo-cratic incumbent Rebecca McKeene is running against Republican Sheldon Vine. The issues in the final days of the campaign have come down to a controversial loyalty oath ballot initiative and an incident in which a young woman protesting genetically modified plants is shot by a Hispanic security guard. The choice-for the candidates as well as the other characters in the two plays, no matter which side they are on - is whether to sacrifice one's principles to win. 'Daughters of the Revolution' "Daughters of the Revolution" is crafted as the odyssey of Michael Bern (Mark Murphey), a community college professor and administrator. On his 55th birthday, his much-younger second wife (Catherine Lynn Davis) gives him his FBI file from his activist youth. Michael is not much amused. Bern, it seems, was present at the founding of Students for a Democratic Society-SDS-in the early 60s. Its agenda was a revolution to achieve racial equality and economic liberation for the poor and working class. Michael dropped out of SDS in the late 60s to complete graduate school but rejoined the radical paramilitary remnants of the group in the early 70s, when the goal of social and economic revolution joined with violent opposition to the Vietnam War and the militancy of the Black Panthers. Michael was present at a secret meeting plotting the kidnapping of the daughter of a prominent Republican senator in order to trade her for an imprisoned Black Panther leader. Someone at the meeting was a snitch for the FBI. The plot was aborted when the Panther was mysteriously shot "while trying to escape," and Michael's academic career was ruined. With his FBI file in hand, Michael goes on a quest to find those present at the meeting and discover who betrayed him. His journey leads him to an examination of the Democratic Party and the political left in today's America. He starts with Blair Lowe (Linda Alper), now the canny political strategist for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rebecca "don't alienate anyone who could possibly vote for you" McKeene (Demetra Pittman). Lowe, in turn leads him to bleeding heart liberal Troy Practice (Michael Elich) and still-radical ex-Panther activist Kwesi Ntuli (n�e Baptiste) (Derrick Lee Weeden). Ntuli leads him to turncoat, neo-conservative Ira Kirschenbaum (Richard Elmore) and, most importantly, to still-underground fugitive Claudia Perowne (Robynn Rodriguez). Each of these has a story, an apologia and an agenda-and an excuse why he or she was not the informant. Ultimately, Michael has to come to terms with where his politics are now and what remains of his ideals. It comes down to a piece of information he has about the radical past of maddeningly politically pragmatic McKeene that could force her to actually take a stand on the controversial ballot measure and the shooting incident at an upcoming debate with Republican challenger Sheldon Vine. This is where "Mothers Against" opens. It is set in the opulent woodsy family home of the wealthy Vine family where the candidate is being prepped by his campaign team for the upcoming debate. Vine's father was a timber baron who subsequently became a U.S. senator. Brother Mitch took over the family company, sold it to a large corporation and got the family a golden parachute, leaving the timber workers with the clear cuts, bankrupt retirement accounts and unemployment. Mitch also was the campaign manager for the father's disastrously unsuccessful re-election campaign. Which is why Sheldon, with ostensibly less political baggage, became the candidate. Sheldon (Bill Geisslinger), we soon discover, is fiscally conservative, pro-environment and socially liberal-a dying breed in today's Republican Party. His team is desperately trying to rework him into appearing as the kind of Republican that will appeal to the grass roots, more conservative wing. Not incidentally, his campaign manager brother Mitch (Tony DeBruno) and his political strategist Don D'Avanzo (Michael Elich) want him to get into some serious negative campaigning. They have politically explosive information about Rebecca McKeene (the same information, in fact, that Michael Bern possesses), that could blow her carefully constructed campaign out of the water in the upcoming televised debate. Sheldon resists. He is supported by his oh-so-proper-Republican wife (Robynn Rodriguez), African-American political analyst Vincent Baptiste (Derrick Lee Weeden) and his radical environmentalist daughter (Christine Williams). Hovering around the debate are conservative commentator Lorianne Weiner (Susannah Schulman) and a na�ve Hispanic pollster, Caryl Marquez (Vilma Silva). Each of these characters, too, has a story, an apologia and an agenda which emerges as the argument about the upcoming debate intensifies. In this play, Sheldon Vine is the one making the decision about whether to betray his ideals and integrity for the sake of winning. The director for both plays is Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Taccone has frequently directed at OSF, notably the Festival's production of David Edgar's "Pentecost" in 1997 and the spectacular production of "Coriolanus" in 1996. Taccone has done an extraordinary job here with his cast. Some of the actors play multiple roles (in "Daughters") and others appear as the same character in both plays. The eight actors who appear in both plays will travel to Berkeley Repertory for its production. Scenic and video design for both plays is by Festival Resident Scenic Designer William Bloodgood. Sound design, including the startling opening for both plays-Jimi Hendrix's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner"-is by Jeremy J. Lee. Costumes are by OSF Resident Designer Deborah M. Dryden and lighting by Alexander V. Nichols. To be sure, "Continental Divide" is a work in progress-"Daughters of the Revolution" more so than "Mothers Against." Both plays try to cover too much ground, explain too many points of view, draw too many characters. Of the two plays, "Mothers Against" is the more successful effort, "Daughters" the more ambitious. "Mothers" is tighter, more focused, more intent on character development and interaction. It is as though Edgar's heart and soul are in "Daughters." Scenes in "Daughters" in particular go on much too long, the polemic is almost unceasing. Dynamics of plot and character frequently come to a screeching halt as Edgar injects a long monologue that makes his political point. The most egregious example of this is the "forest scene" which seems interminable. We spend so much time in that redwood grove that I think the audience begins to grow moss on its toes. Not that what we learn about the social organization and political goals of the "tree-sitters" is not interesting. It is just that it is more than we need to know in this play and probably should be a play on its own. However, notwithstanding these flaws, the two plays of "Continental Divide" should be seen. Edgar has done a masterful job of writing and Taccone, his actors and the technical staff a superb job of bringing the words to life in ways that touch us emotionally and engage us intellectually. Not a common achievement in much of today's theater. "Continental Divide" is the largest undertaking the Festival has ever done. Or, as director Tony Taccone put it, "I must have been crazy-we put on two world premiere openings in two theatres in one day." "Daughters" is in the Bowmer, as befits its enormous set and ambitious video projections by Alexander V. Nichols. "Mothers" is in the more intimate New Theatre, configured for avenue seating. The plays run until July 13 at OSF and will open at Berkeley Repertory in Nov-ember. For information about times and tickets, call 482-2331. LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -