‘Outsider’ gets laughs with inside politics
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NILES -- It can be hard to spoof something as ridiculous as contemporary politics, especially after the barrage of truly insane commercials that voters have endured the last several months, but Trumbull New Theatre's production of "The Outsider" wrings plenty of laughs out of it.
Paul Slade Smith's script takes many shots at pandering politicians throughout its two-hour running time (plus intermission) before shifting to Aaron-Sorkin-lite territory late in the second act as the new governor talks about the potential for the government to make positive change.
Even at its most ridiculous, though, it doesn't seem too far-fetched, thanks to a talented cast under Brett Bunker's direction and, unfortunately, real life.
When the play starts, both the governor of a small state and his staff have lost their jobs, thanks to a sex scandal and its cover up. That leaves in charge Lt. Gov. Ned Newley (Tom Burd), a talented policy wonk who can't sell his ideas in front of television cameras or a crowd.
An embarrassing swearing-in ceremony that goes viral for all the wrong reasons leaves his chief of staff Dave Riley (B. David Sloan) in a panic, but well-known political consultant Arthur Vance (Ron Wolford) sees an opportunity. He believes Newley can be shaped into a relatable, aw-shucks, ordinary average guy to whom voters will relate. And it just might work, at least until Vance finds a more malleable candidate for his plans.
Burd pulls off a talented balancing act, shifting between the terrified, tongue-tied doofus who can't adjust an office chair to a man with a brilliant mind who can rattle off government funding stats without notes and plots out Medicare funding solutions in his free time.
Sloan is equally good as a sputtering, stammering chief of staff trying to keep the new administration from collapsing during its first days. His Riley is a true believer, a guy who's always worked for the best candidate, not the best politician, so he has zero experience working for a winner, albeit one who got the job because of his predecessor's malfeasance.
Caitlyn McKenna plays Riley's opposite, Paige Caldwell, a pollster more interested in winning than political purity. She sees Vance's arrival as a way into the political major leagues.
Wolford's Vance is like James Carville, if he was more genteel southern gentleman and less ragin' Cajun.
Nina Miller gets many of the show's biggest laughs as Louise Peakes, the world's worst temp. She seldoms lasts a second day at her assignments. As she says, no one has more experience at having no experience.
Mel Lyon is effective as a TV reporter who is being forced by her boss, a buddy of Vance's, to make his candidate look good. And Chip Lockwood plays her cameraman, who proves to be more thoughtful than his grunted responses initially indicate.
All the action takes place in the governor's office, and the set and scenic design is impressive and filled with well-executed little details, such as the marble balcony that can be glimpsed behind the governor's desk.
The set also undergoes a spectacular redecoration in the second act, when it features everything from a campaign sign that echoes Shepard Fairey's Obama "Hope" poster and a massive poster that captures what it might look like if a jihadist decapitated an American flag.
The playwright goes to great lengths to make an apolitical political comedy. If the words "Republican," "Democrat," "conservative" or "liberal" are in the script, I missed them.
For those fed up with politics, TNT's "The Outsider" might make them change their minds ... at least for a couple hours.
WHAT: "The Outsider”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 22.
WHERE: Trumbull New Theatre, 5883 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles
HOW MUCH: Tickets are $17 for adults and $15 for students and are available online at trumbullnewtheatre.tix.com and by calling 330-652-1103.