Democracy

Okay, maybe I saw a different show. Ben Brantley of the New York Times feels that Michael Frayn's Democracy is one of the greatest dramas of our time. I found it a colossal bore. In this view of German leader Willy Brandt and his rise to power, of the intricacies of the spy system between East and West Germany, and of interlocking loyalties, the political machinations are interesting, but the endless exposition gets dull. Director Michael Blakemore keeps the actors moving physically; there much motion on the creatively-designed, two-level set by Peter J. Davison, and it is well lighted by Mark Henderson. But performances are all external: demonstrated rather than "being," and they go on, and on, and on, and on. A few broad strokes could have communicated the essences of these goings-on. I don't go to the theatre for a history lecture. I want to see human interaction, empathize with someone, and feel something, whatever the genre. This production lacks intimacy, so we stay outside the performances.

In the hour-and-a-half first act, I felt something strong for about a minute and a half as Brandt, stolidly played by James Naughton, kneels at a Polish Holocaust monument. Most of the large cast of suited men, most of the time, despite their walking around a lot, seem artificial: speechifying figures, pretenders of feelings, rather than real humans. Maybe it's just me -- although I did notice several people seated near me nodded off and then left at intermission.