Yes, another assignment from last semester.  I had to listen to a play, and critique it.  I chose this particular play because it had to do with politics, and I was also taking a political science class.  My professor this semester made such an important statement last week in class.  She feels that it is imparitive to not always continue your training as far as an actor, but to educate yourself on EVERY subject possible.  I think she is so right about this because acting is about human nature, and reinacting others life experiences.  Knowledge is power, and the know you aquire, the more you can bring to the table in any part you play.

Bryn Berg



THA 101 Introduction to Theatre (section 3615)



Play-Listening Assignment



April 29, 2011



“The Best Man Won”



“The Best Man” is a delicious play written by Gore Vidal that gives a lot of insight on the irony and sad truths of the political world.  The plot is based on two men running for president in the year 1960.  Both candidates are competing for the endorsement of the current President, Art Hawkstarter.  The main character, Bill Russell is the former secretary of state, and is one of the two men aspiring to be the next president.   President Hawkstater is very pleased with all of Bill’s work in politics, and has a lot of respect for Bill as well.  President Hawstater confesses to Bill at the beginning of the play that he will not be endorsing him.  His decision is mainly based on the fact that Bill was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and has never had to struggle financially.  Because Bill has always had money President Hawstater feels he could never have all the citizens of this countries best interest at heart, or relate to a lower income bracket.  Bill takes everything that is said to him with a grain of salt, and remains calm.  Bill’s response is that he just wants to keep everything honest.  Bill also implies that he refuses to pretend to be something he is not, does not practice any religion, and does not try to cover up the fact he ran around on his wife many times.  President Hawkstarter confides to Bill that he is dying of stomach cancer, and he wants to make his last day’s count, so his endorsement decision is very near and dear to him.  Bill is very sympathetic to Hawkstarter’s condition.  We are also introduced to Bill’s wife who is very much like him.  She is honest, does not care about the latest fashions, and appearances do not matter to her.



We are soon whisked away to the next scene of the play where meet Joe Cantwell, the other presidential hopeful.  Hawkstarter pays Joe a visit to enlighten him on the good news that he will be receiving his endorsement.  Joe does not give Hawkstarter any time to get a word in, and immediately launches in on how he has found dirt on Bill Russell.  Joe goes on and on about how he was able to get his hands on all of the medical records pertaining to a nervous breakdown Bill had a few years back, and that he was going use it to his advantage in every way possible.  Hawkstarter is comes to Bill’s defense right away, and tries to explain to Joe that he was just overworked at that time, and that he was blowing this information about Bill’s mental state way out of proportion.  Joe is so self-centered and wrapped up in winning the election that he even misses out on Hawkstarter telling him that his days on Earth were numbered by his illness.  To make things worse, Joe jumped to conclusions and assumed that Hawkstarter would not be endorsing him.  Hawkstarter changes his mind on routing for Joe because he jumped the gun too fast, and feels that a good president never acts too quickly.



The plot then focuses again on Bill Russell as his campaign manager makes a huge discovery about Joe Cantwell’s past.  It is brought to Bill’s attention that while Joe served in the army he was involved in a homosexual act.  Bill does not want to expose any of this information to the public, and feels that it is really not that big of a deal.  Bill wants to just play fair, and win the election by being honest.  Bill would love to put a stop to unclean way the game of politics is played.  Hawkstarter tries every way to convince Bill to use this scandal against Joe, but he refuses.  Hawkstarter throws his hands up in the air, and tells Bill he is weak, really must not want to be president because he is not willing to play dirty, and announces that he will not endorse either of the men.  Shortly after this Hawkstarter is taken to the hospital and passes away.



Towards the end of the play Joe Caldwell and Bill Russell have a showdown about the negative facts they have on each other.  Bill is not worried about anything Joe will expose about his past breakdown.  Bill remains present and all ears when he finds out a man that Joe served in the army with would be arriving to defend the accusations made about Bill.  Joe also pressures Bill in every way possible to drop out of the running for president by bargaining with him, and states that he would give Joe pretty much any political position of his choice if he was running the country.  Bill declines Joe’s offer.  When Joe’s friend from the army arrives he pretty much clears Joe of any possible queer activity while serving in the army.  Bill is satisfied with what he has heard, but still feels Joe is a disgusting and unscrupulous person.  If it were up to Bill he would rather just give a statement to the public exposing what he knows of Joe’s character.



At the end of the play Bill simply steps out of the race because he can no longer stand the filthiness of everyone and everything to do with politics.   Bill he implies politics should be honest and simple.  Bill tells his press secretary to inform his political party (it does not state if he is a republican or a democrat) to now have a governor that is not very well known to take over in the running for president. 



I loved every second of this play.   I was blown away by the acting.   All of the actors were so natural, and I had to keep telling myself that they were just playing parts, and not actually involved in politics.  There was also a lot of twisted humor that I found extremely funny and amusing.  I was able to visualize every scene very clearly, and even felt I was in the room with everyone.  The morals of this story are so important, and makes you realize that stepping on others to get to the top will eventually catch up to you.  It also raises some important questions.  Is a person that will stop at nothing to hurt others for success really fulfilled and satisfied deep down inside?   Is it better to ignore what you truly believe in, and lower your standards when going after your dreams?  Bill was not willing to do this because he would have been miserable if he had been elected president as he would felt he won because he had stooped to Joe’s level, and played his dirty game.  The only small complaint I had with this reading is that towards the end the actress playing Bill’s wife seemed to possibly not be putting her all into her part, and a little disconnected.  Other than that I would jump at the chance to see this play live.