Walt Disney hoists himself by his own petard in A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney, the Lucas Hnath play now in a West Coast premiere at the Odyssey Theater. First done off-Broadway five years ago, the clever, sardonic drama has a set-up and style all its own.
When the lights come up we find Walt (Kevin Ashworth) sitting at a table and reading from a screenplay he has written about his own life. Taking part in the reading is his brother Roy (Thomas Piper). Both men bark out lines in staccato fashion broken up by equally fast, punchy stage directions. Sitting off to one side are two other characters, Walt’s daughter (Brittney Bertier) and her husband Ron (Cory Washington), who later get involved in the action.
According to a program note (by director Peter Richards), Hnath describes his own writing as “stereoscopic theatricality…forcing the audience to refract their own idea of a celebrity with the version of that person they see before them on stage. He has used the same technique in previous plays about Hillary Clinton, Isaac Newton, and Anna Nicole Smith.
In A Public Reading, the Walt Disney that emerges is nothing like the official portrait of the man, the smiling, avuncular creator of Mickey Mouse, Lion Kings, Disneyland, and nature documentaries. He’s still an American icon in Hnath’s version, a powerful mogul, a creative genius, a famous pundit—but also someone who will never let you forget just how great he is. His monumental ego dictates his every move and colors the way he thinks and relates to the world. “You don’t get along well with people,” Roy tells him at one point. “You’re more like a God.” Walt’s reaction to the criticism is to flash a proud smile and admit that he agrees wholeheartedly with the statement.
Walt also sneers at his less arrogant, more down-to-earth brother, threatens to disown his daughter because she won’t name her baby after him, and insults his son-in-law Ron for being a dumb jock and a loser. Then he rails against his workers when they try to unionize, boasts of his friendship with the red-baiting Senator Joe McCarthy, and snarls at his board of directors when they won’t rubber-stamp his grandiose plans to build a city in the middle of nowhere.
What makes Walt run and rage like that? In Hnath’s eyes it’s a fear of death, a fear that comes out when Walt keeps coughing up blood and gasping for breath (he eventually died of lung cancer). Walt tries to hide his illness, and when it worsens covers up by swilling vodka and popping Dexedrine. He also becomes interested in cryonics, because if he is able to freeze his remarkable brain it might be brought to life one day, enabling him to become king of the jungle again.
The actors do a superb job in bringing A Public Reading to life. Hats off to them and to director Richards for their inspired work.
