Kushner At The Guthrie: My Report
The last time I went to the Guthrie Theatre, in Minneapolis, was to see a musical version of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s kiddie classic “Little House on the Prairie.” This time, I saw a new play by Tony Kushner (pictured), which drops the F-bomb with Mametian frequency: Nobody can say the Guthrie lacks variety. I have a sentimental attachment to the Guthrie: it gave me my first exposure to professional theatre. In at least one respect, the new Kushner work took me back to that childhood era. In those heady experimental days, I saw something with the title, “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad.” I never thought I’d see anything with a more marquee-challenging title. But the new Kushner beats it: “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide To Capitalism And Socialism With A Key To The Scriptures.” I had originally planned to review it for the Financial Times. But then the local reviewers weighed in. According to Twin Cities journalist Dominic P. Paptola, “Local critics were mixed in their response to the play. They praised Kushner’s language and the cast’s performances, but agreed the work did not feel finished. The Pioneer Press called the play ‘a rudimentary kitchen-sink drama overlaid with speechifying and political pedagogy.’ The Star Tribune noted the play’s ‘operatic cacophony at times skates precipitously close to the razor’s edge of incoherence.” Kushner decided the work was not ready for full-barrel scrutiny (i.e. the New York Times). He asked critics from national publications to sit this one out, even though many had already bought their plane tickets. There was Internet chatter that the Guthrie “disinvited” reviewers. It would be fairer to say that the Guthrie tried to steer writers to feature coverage rather than full-out reviews. I’ve chosen to respect Kushner and the Guthrie’s request, and so am not reviewing “Intelligent Homosexual” in the FT.
I do, however, have a few things to report from my Minneapolis trip. Kushner, hard at work doing revision and not talking much to the press, has said that the play is not ready for serious scrutiny, and all the longtime Guthrie subscribers I’ve talked to agree. They don’t understand why the Guthrie presented “Guide” as a ready-for-prime-time production befitting its status as the centerpiece of a festival devoted to the playwright rather than what it is: something in a workshop stage. These are sophisticated folk. They understand that the initial production of a new play will undergo revision. They don’t mind being a kind of out-of-town Broadway tryout. (There is unconfirmed talk that the play will move to Broadway this coming season.) But they are feeling a little used. I told one of these Guthrie supporters that Variety reported that a thorough developmental process of private “Guide” workshops at the Guthrie had been planned before the premiere but that Kushner’s work on a Steven Spielberg film about the life of Abraham Lincoln took him away from the stageplay. “Then the Guthrie should have respected its patrons,” this woman said. “Kushner should have let them know the piece wasn’t ready and they should have substituted one of his other plays.” When I mentioned this idea to another Guthrie supporter, he said, “They probably could have used the same actors” — Kathleen Chalfant, Stephen Spinella, Linda Emond, Michael Cristofer. “I realize that a switch may have been awkward. The Guthrie had already sold its subscribers on a major new work, and they would have had to send out flyers and emails announcing a change. But we would have at least got something of quality to go with the wonderful other stuff in the Kushner festival here. Instead, we got something not even half-baked.”
While I can understand this type of frustration, I have faith in Kushner’s ability to whip the new play in shape before it reaches New York. He has shown a superb ability to refine work as it moves along into new productions. After 9/11, his “Homebody/Kabul” was rushed into production at New York Theatre Workshop, and there were lots of loose ends. By the time the play returned, to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, most of the problems had been solved. I suspect that the same thing will happen with the “Intelligent Homosexual.”
