BEMUSING, DISAPPOINTING, SUPERFICIAL,
AND FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS
After all the hype about Matthew Broderick starring in the title role of Babbitt, presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Harman Hall, the production — which had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse last November — is a disappointment. Yet, the fault doesn’t lie solely with Broderick’s acting.
Matthew Broderick
Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 satirical narrative of a conservative everyman — middle class, middle-aged, in middle America — who changes political views on a whim in order to put some life back into his meaningless existence, was groundbreaking at the time it was written.
The Cast
But in today’s political climate, this tale is all too familiar and rings stale, if not depressing. This production feels more like a parody of the book, rather than a satire on society. Maybe we live in an environment where this state of affairs is no laughing matter.
Chris Myers
Even the repetitive jokes in playwright Joe DiPietro‘s adaptation are stale. Babbitt, a successful businessman, is enthralled with material things and shockingly uses his guest bath towel. These are the lines played for laughter again and again.
Ali Stroker
Judy Kaye, Chris Myers, Matthew Broderick, Mara Davi, and Matt McGrath
The term “Babbitt” has made its way into the dictionary as a materialistic, complacent, and conformist businessman. Our Babbitt starts off with Republican values and flip-flops for his own personal gain. Although he has attained the American Dream as a real estate broker with a house and car and lives with his devoted wife (Ann Harada) and children (Ali Stroker as his baby daughter Tinka and Chris Meyers as his teenage son Ted), he is unsatisfied and fantasizes about having a younger, sexier female companion and a different lot in life.
Matthew Broderick and Ali Stroker
The Cast
He is a host of contradictions. Although he himself is a working man, he preaches against labor unions, and warns against foreigners and teaching Shakespeare. Although socially conservative, he turns to a bohemian lifestyle and changes his political views as acts of rebellion. He runs into trouble in his unrest when his life starts to fall apart. His best friend (Nehal Joshi) goes to jail for attempted murder, Babbitt engages in an extramarital affair with a flapper (Mara Davi), and he starts favoring the socialist cause.
Judy Kaye and Matt McGrath
Do we like Babbitt? No, we don’t. Do we like Matthew Broderick? Yes, we do. Broderick’s performance, however, is more himself than a portrayal of Babbitt. This discrepancy between the actor and the character he’s playing is another contradiction that must be resolved.
Judy Kaye
Directed by Christopher Ashley, the play’s main problem is actually a Catch-22 of sorts. The superficiality that the author is trying to demonstrate with the emptiness of the main character and the life he leads, is actually the problem that the play suffers from. Made up of Broadway vets including Judy Kaye and Matt McGrath, the cast — seven storytellers who act as both narrators and characters in the play — come across as two-dimensional and cartoonish, as does Babbitt. The use of these storytellers, while potentially interesting, ends up contributing to the play’s lack of depth. Any deep statement DiPietro is trying to make — the harrowing hollowness of material success, for example — is lost. I was left craving substance.
Matthew Broderick, Mara Davi, and the Cast
Mara Davi and Matthew Broderick
Another misstep is the choice of the set. Though impressive in structure, it doesn’t make sense and is a cause for distraction. Set Designer Walt Spangler chose to set Babbitt in a massive, two-story library. In itself, it is beautiful in its pristine, clean, whiteness. One wonders: Is this meant to mirror the whitewashed lives of the characters? But why a library? And to add to the confusion, Babbitt himself is wheeled out on a library cart at the play’s start and wheeled back at the play’s conclusion, much to my confusion.
Ann Harada
In the end, George Babbitt crawls back to his meager existence, with greater gratitude for the life from which he desperately tried to escape. But is this plot twist enough to tie up the loose ends of this production? From this standpoint, unfortunately the answer is no.
Nehal Joshi and Matthew Broderick
photos by Teresa Castracane Photography
Babbitt
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW in Washington, DC
ends on November 3, 2024
for tickets, call 202.547.1122 or visit STC
