Democrats, be seated. Be seated with great anticipation. Playwright Mario Correa has a sizzling partisan entertainment for you, called succinctly N/A.
And before any additional info is passed along, be aware that the N/A doesn’t stand for “Not Acceptable.” Certainly not unacceptable for Democrats, but then again maybe, just maybe, for Republicans. For Democrats N/A is so acceptable, it approaches cheers-level, if not reaches and surpasses it.
N/A, you see, stands for something quite something else. The “N” stands for Nancy. More specifically, it stands for two-time speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. The “A” stands for first-time House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
[Read Frank Scheck’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
This is a two-hander — strictly a two-hander — in which Nancy Pelosi is played by Holland Taylor (that’s right, no longer Ann in her one-hander as Texas governor Ann Richards), and in which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in played by Ana Villafañe. Both play their roles with such savage calm that within seconds of the 80-minuter getting underway any difference between the actors and the real personages is indistinguishable.
So, perhaps, is the dialogue that Correa supplies the pair — dialogue, it’s explained in a playwright’s note, that’s “inspired by events that took place between 2018 and 2022 and what we know of certain conversations from that period. Some dialogue is taken directly from the leaders who fueled these characters. The play is heavily researched and lightly imagined.”
Expecting to spot what’s authentic and what’s “lightly imagined” is a fool’s errand. Nothing Correa reports of the sometimes mutually appreciative, sometimes bluntly contentious give-and-take sounds unlikely. It all has the clangorous, rancorous ring of truth.
Especially convincing is the comeback Pelosi makes to just about everything Ocasio-Cortez sallies. When the former first encounters the latter, the latter is on her cell phone and, she says, “broadcasting.” She confides, “It’s just, all these new followers! You know — followers?” Pelosi’s replies, “Like Jesus.” To which Ocasio-Cortez fumbles, “He had only twelve! That was — I’m kidding. I’m not comparing myself to Jesus!” Pelosi’s comeback: “Then you’re the only one.”
That’s just the beginning of the witty toppers that keep coming. Pelosi may be determined about controlling the house, but, doing so, she never drops her mastery of the quick quip. She’s right up there with the best professional stand-up comics. Compulsive quipster Joan Rivers could have taken some lessons from her, possibly did.
The first meeting between Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez has been arranged by Pelosi, who wants to get to know the recent winner of the Bronx-Brooklyn primary. She regards the 27-year-old as guaranteed to be sent to the House. The introduction goes well, but Ocasio-Cortez, once the election-day victor, doesn’t waste time declaring her intentions as a progressive through-and-through.
The succeeding political discussions become — as is now part of contemporary House of Representative history — the substance of Correa’s exploration. Throughout it, the two wranglers don’t hold back. At the same time, they never show that they lose respect for who they are and who the other is and is apt to remain.
The result is a battle of equals that — Pelosi losing her office, of course, when the House changes hands — retains it balance. (Curiously, the play may have some August Strindberg fans recalling The Stronger, his two-hander of approximately the same length.)
Everything about N/A is sleekly elegant, as elegantly and sleekly directed by Diane Paulus. Perhaps she imagined two lionesses circling each other. That’s the impression achieved. With Lisa Renkel projections illuminating the upstage wall, the playing area features Lucite furniture — desks, seats, a shelf — that set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho arranges and rearranges. Holland and Villafañe wear appropriate suits. Incidentally, Holland has no scarf or other neck adornment, as Pelosi usually does. There are few props, the most focal being — what else? — a gavel.
One undeniable effect N/A has is its emphasizing the power women now exercise in the federal government. Not so long ago, a woman House rep wouldn’t even be able to populate a solo outing. Now, women in both parties have claimed their place. At Shaina Taub’s Suffs finale, women are encouraged to “Keep Marching.” They have, with at least these two current offerings emphasizing women’s mounting political heft. Some pundits even insist a contentious woman has the entire Republican caucus in her grip.
Which raises the question: Is there anything for Republicans in N/A. (At the performance I attended — an auditorium of smiling faces — I wondered if there was a single MAGA interloper present.) Still, when Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez are debating the progressive-moderate party disagreements, a wide crack is revealed for the opposing contingent to hang hope on for the next five months.
All the same, during the action Pelosi makes her pitch for ever-eternal hope. Never the sentimental push-over, she and Correa may be the ones to get their hopeful, determined way come November.
N/A opened June 25, 2024, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre and runs through September 1. Tickets and information: natheplay.com
