WHAT’S IN A NAME? A LOT WHEN IT’S “CLINTON”
“Feelings are a terrible way to make decisions, Bill.”
“Yes, but people don’t think you have any.”
Reviewing this show is almost like reviewing two separate factors: the show itself and the experience they are creating. In the talkback afterward, Producing Artistic Director and Education Coordinator Marti Gobel shared that she wanted to find a different kind of locale for this play – both for creative and cost reasons. Hillary and Clinton takes place all in one hotel room. Rather than rent a theatre and create a set that looks like a hotel room, Gobel thought, what if Onword Theatre, for their debut production, instead rented an actual suite in a hotel and did the play right in that room? Before you imagine the whole audience lying on a bed together, the penthouse suite at the Alma Hotel is two stories with a large living room area where viewers are seated on the room’s couch and in folding chairs around the edge. Intimate, at about thirty seats, but surprisingly workable, under Gobel’s direction, for this particular play. Besides being a neat experiment in theatre, the fun idea succeeds because, as stated, it all would have taken place in a space that small in reality. More on the experience later, but here’s the basis for Lucas Hnath’s gripping story:
We’re informed at the outset that there are many parallel universes, where things happen similarly, if not quite the same. It’s Hnath’s clever way of saying, “We’re not saying this is actually what happened in the universe you live in,” since Hnath wasn’t privy to a single word spoken between Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, let alone a fictitious campaign manager Mark. Having gotten that out of the way, Hnath is free to create some terrific drama between the four opposing forces in this close-but-alternate-universe of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Hillary, like in our reality, is behind in the polls of the critical kick-off New Hampshire primary. This is because of the surge of a bright new delight catching everyone off-guard: a junior senator named Barack Obama. Despite her being the assumed choice for dominating the ticket, everyone is drawn to this new, sparkling voice. Hillary is baffled by his lead in the polls. Mark is saying that it’s not shocking and it’ll run its course. Despite Hillary having thrown Bill off the campaign, and barely speaking to him for weeks, she succumbs to missing both his insight and her sparring partner. Still fuming over his public seҳ scandal, she calls to invite him to come back and advise her. Bill and Mark disagree on almost everything and Hillary is doubly stressed by their rivalry, all while the three try to debate the merits of Obama having offered her the VP position—IF she’ll throw the primary and bow out in a week or two.
The political contemplation, strategizing, and reaction is captivating, with flavors of West Wing, House of Cards, and the final seasons of The Crown (Charles and Diana, behind closed doors). Hillary obsesses on the fact that the world keeps evaluating her feelings instead of her intentions, distorting what she actually can feel at all. Bill alternates between supporting and gaslighting her. Mark tries to open Hillary’s eyes to Bill’s manipulation, but are Bill’s ideas and actions really wrong? And then the drama peaks when Obama arrives and throws monkey wrenches into everyone’s certainties.
The casting is terrific. Danielle Bunch gives us glimpses into Hillary’s heart, at least what remains of it after so much battering, while being a strong and determined force. Geoffrey Ulysses Geissinger is sharp and quick-witted as the sharp-but-somewhat-sleazy Bill. Kenna Harrington stands her ground believably as Mark. Kevin Phantom is rather delightful as a more cunning and salacious Obama than one might expect. All in all the time flies by in a revolving door of support and undercutting that would have the Dynasty writers envious.
Back to the experience. The audience is encouraged to be expressive, even calling out their feelings to the four characters. An interesting idea and the actors handled it deftly, pausing just long enough not to step on our audible reactions (most often to Bill). But for the bit of energy that it added with our ooh’s and yeah’s, it became a distraction when it felt like patrons were trying too hard to be clever, hoping to support the invitation to speak out.
Several people have asked me why I thought the title wasn’t Hillary and Bill. One would have to ask Hnath to know for sure, but a good explanation could be that the current title both implies that and addresses the bigger issue of Hillary having to both benefit from, and suffer through, all that it meant to be a Clinton—when she might have gone further without the legendary moniker.
Between the novelty the company has created in the penthouse suite, a sharp script from Hnath, and great pacing and tone from Gobel and her company, Hillary and Clinton is a great production that will give you plenty to share on the way home. Congratulations to OnWord for a strong launch and I look forward to what else they bring to the San Diego theatre scene.
photos by Kenna Harrington
Hillary and Clinton
OnWord Theatre
Alma Hotel, 1047 Fifth Ave
Thu & Fri at 7; Sat at 4; Sun at 2 (check for variations)
ends on April 19, 2025
for tickets ($45), call 619.892.8123 or visit OnWord Theatre
