Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 21, 1915 ... Helping Ugandans help themselves ... OHSU opens rural 'hub' campus in Klamath Falls ... Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 21, 1915 ... Helping Ugandans help themselves ... OHSU opens rural 'hub' campus in Klamath Falls ... REVIEW Camelot: 'The Manchurian Candidate' redux Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2015 at 1:39 PM Updated Oct 17, 2015 at 1:43 PM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2015 at 1:39 PM Updated Oct 17, 2015 at 1:43 PM » Social News Director John Frankenheimer’s 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate,” based on Richard Condon’s 1959 political thriller novel, was very much a creature of the Cold War that then threatened the world with nuclear apocalypse. In the 1990s' update written for the stage by New Yorker critic John Lahr, godless Russian communists are obsolete as bad guys, so Lahr substituted mysterious forces in the Middle East and the Japanese. In hindsight, as the production of Lahr’s play that opened Friday at Camelot Theatre in Talent demonstrated, it was an awkward choice. In 1991 the economy of “the Japs” (as the play’s repulsive Johnny Iselin calls them) had already plunged off the financial cliff into the economic abyss of a depression that became known as The Lost Decade (although it arguably continued for more than 20 years). These bad guys couldn’t pay the grocery bill, let alone take over the world . Whatever. It’s 1999, and several U.S. Marines on a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East are kidnapped and brainwashed by mysterious captors to believe that one of their number, Raymond Shaw (Aaron Garber), heroically saved others from Arab militants. He’s awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In reality, Shaw, a member of a Far Right American political family, has been programmed as a sleeper agent and unwitting assassin whose brain program will boot up whenever he sees the queen of hearts playing card. Meanwhile he’s returned to the states to work as a reporter in Washington, D.C. We’ve been brainwashed, er, conditioned, by 50 years of popular movies to accept the human programming plot device as being as routine as installing new software in your laptop. The Chinese and North Koreans may have experimented with something like it with captives in the Korean War. Anyway, once you accept the premise, it’s fun to roll with the fast-paced tale. There’s conspiracy, murder, buffoonery, political assassination, corruption, incest (or a strong suggestion of it) and blatant racism, all served briskly with an eye for satire by director Roy Von Rains, Jr. The most fun in all this is the cartoon couple of the reactionary Southern politician Johnny Iselin (Jeff Golden) and his scheming wife (Presila Quinby). A funny Golden plays Iselin (inspired by Red-baiting Sen. Joe McCarthy) as a cross between Sen. Jesse Helms and Al Capp’s Jubilation T. Cornpone. His crude xenophobia, racist stereotypes and colossal ego may even make you think of a present-day presidential candidate. A song Iselin sings affords a glimpse of his style (with apologies to Woody Guthrie): “This land is my land/ Go back to your land/ I got a shotgun/ and you ain’t got one … “ Quinby has never been more delicious on stage. She plays the ambitious political wife as a cross between Lady Macbeth and Moonbeam McSwine. A massage scene with Golden is a hoot. She married Iselin to team his crude but popular red-meat demagoguery with her lust for power and is maneuvering him to beat out the rather decent Sen. Jordan (Bob Clark) for his party’s nomination for vice president. She’s even manipulated Raymond into a marriage to Jordan’s daughter (Stephanie Jones). But when Raymond’s Marine buddy Ben Marco (Mark Schneider), an ex-intelligence officer, begins having strange dreams, he embarks on a quest to uncover the truth about the brainwashing. A sub-plot involves Marco and his lover, Eugenie (Barbara Henson), who thinks he’s suffering from PTSD as he begins to hone in on the conspiracy. Can he bring Raymond along? “The Manchurian Candidate” unfolds in more than 30 punchy, bite-sized scenes. Von Rains makes extensive use of video by Brian O’Connor, not merely for atmosphere or backstory but even to present several key scenes. The original story got its push from Cold War paranoia. That’s gone, and with it much of the story's edge. In the Toyota-driving, Hitachi-watching, sushi-eating, world-is-flat America of the 21st century, “the Japs” don’t cut it as the bete noir. And the brainwashers are never fleshed out. And although Iselin was written to be a grotesque, his ilk is now loudly abroad in the republic. But although Lahr's version doesn't have the juice of the original, in this sharp production it's still a fun ride. Reach freelance writer Bill Varble at varble.bill @gmail.com. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2015 at 1:39 PM Updated Oct 17, 2015 at 1:43 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501