A small London theater exceeds your expectations

Real-life political conflicts have proved to be good dramatic fodder for leading British playwrights in recent years. Peter Morgan’s Frost/Nixon was based on the interviews the former president gave in the wake of the Watergate scandal, while James Graham’s 2021 play Best of Enemies dramatised the televised political debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr.

Veteran political playwright David Edgar now turns to playwright Arthur Miller and director Elia Kazan, who fell out amid the feverish anti-communist climate of 1950s America. When Kazan was asked to “name names” by the House Un-American Activities Committee or risk being blacklisted from Hollywood, his choice disgusted his friend. Kazan had previously directed Death of a Salesman to great acclaim and, as Here in America posits, the two were like “brothers.” They did not speak again for 10 years.

It’s certainly a fascinating and fertile subject: this feud between two great names of theater and film had major artistic consequences. Miller was inspired to write The Crucible about the Salem witch trials – a clear allegory for McCarthyism and the effects of wrongful accusations – while Kazan’s 1954 film On the Waterfront, in which Marlon Brando’s longshoreman takes on a corrupt union by blowing the whistle, won eight Oscars. Meanwhile, Marilyn Monroe, with whom both men were involved, was a central figure throughout it all. Miller used his engagement to Monroe as political capital when he himself was hauled in front of HUAC – a speech that is convincingly reenacted here.

Edgar, who has written more than 60 plays since 1970, has managed to cram all this history—albeit with some not-so-subtle exposition—into a nifty 80-minute comic strip featuring Michael Aloni’s Art, Shaun Evans’ Gadg (Kazan), Faye Castelow’s Day (Kazan’s wife) and Jasmine Blackborow’s Miss Bauer (Monroe). Imagining the confrontation between the two men at Kazan’s home in 1952, Edgar asks questions about betrayal, a theme that has haunted Miller. Both men had previously betrayed their wives through infidelity. Should Kazan remain loyal to the Communists who had betrayed him before? Will Miller betray Kazan by publicly denouncing him as a traitor?

While the exchanges can border on verbosity, the push and pull between the four actors is captivating to watch. The intimate 180-seat Orange Tree venue proves to be the perfect setting for these nonverbal dynamics to unfold: A warning glance here and a raised eyebrow of disbelief there convey meaning beyond the words spoken, and breathe life into speeches that might otherwise feel muffled.

Evans’s Gadg often seems hesitant about his decision, but wilts under the pressure of his more vocal and domineering wife, physically leaning on her before giving testimony to HUAC. When Art relays his intentions with The Crucible, Day takes control and argues fiercely with him while Gadg can only look on, dumbfounded. And when Art himself has moments of doubt, Blackborow’s Marilyn is there to cheer him up. “The man I want to be with is the man who tells the truth,” she tells him.

As for Marilyn, Blackborow deliberately gives us a sketch of the woman, as versions of how Art and Gadg saw her at the time. Similar to the “flashbacks” in Death of a Salesman, she appears as a memory or as an imagined presence interfering in the conversation. With Gadg—with whom she had a sexual relationship—she is more sensual, pulling him between her legs and grabbing his face. With Art, she is an exciting whirlwind, but also vulnerable and shy, looking at him with sticky-eyed admiration.

Here, then, is another example of the Orange Tree punching above its weight. The minimal staging devices feel sophisticated, with blocks seamlessly shifting the scene from a park bench to a living room to a courtroom. Black leaves cover the stage, and the stars of the American flag illuminate the floor during the hearings. “I had this thought,” Art explains to Gadg about the Salem witch trials, “that if we understood what happened then, we could begin to understand what’s happening here and now.” From the banning of books in schools to the links between McCarthy and Trump, the comparisons we’re invited to make with modern America are all too clear.

Until October 19th; orangetreetheatre.co.uk

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