Friday night, I was at La Costa Theatre's premiere of Stuck, a new musical by Riley Thomas about six people, um, stuck on a stalled underground CTA train car. (Thanks to the Presidents' Day holiday, my thoughts on the show won't show up until a week from now.)
I was seated directly in front of David Alex, a playwright and member of the Jeff Committee who I run into several times a month at openings. We got into a discussion before the show about 1776, the musical about the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, currently playing in a very good revival by Signal Ensemble Theatre that I reviewed here.
David made a great point that hadn't occurred to me: the dilemma of the Georgia delegate in the show. The Georgia delegate isn't sure, as a chosen representative, whether he's supposed to exercise his own judgment or vote in the manner he thinks his constituents would want him to.
David pointed out the similarities between that situation and the current concern about Democratic superdelegates:do they side with the popular vote, or with the politician they're closest with?
It's an interesting question. In 1776, the right answer is for the Georgia delegate to go with his own heart to support the Declaration. In the current case, I'm much more inclined to support the superdelegates following the voters (and that is, of course, assuming that Obama's lead continues to hold [and remember that I grew up in Arkansas, and while I supported Bill and have certain fond memories of the Clintons, I have valid reasons for opposing another Billary reign]), but regardless, it's a great example of the way a 40-year-old play, about things that happened nearly 230 years ago, can truly resonate today. Do you have more examples of unexpected resonance?
Just for the record, Kris, David spells his last name "Alex." Since you two were having a good discussion, I wanted to make sure you got his name right.
And I've known David for a long time--he's one of the good guys who supports small Chicago theater and is not one of the sleepers and restroom bitchers that Don Hall and Nick Digilio always complain about. There are people like David on the Jeff committee, despite what you hear.
Posted by: Mark Jeffries | February 17, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Correction made.
Posted by: Kris Vire | February 17, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I'm just echoing how great it is to see David's name popping up in the theatresphere (sp?) He is a true mensch, and one of the people I'm always happy to see on opening night. Or whenever he's at a show.
Otherwise, I find myself too pins-and-needles this election season to comment further! (Though I'd love a sidebar discussion sometime with you about the Clintons in Arkansas.)
Posted by: Kerry Reid | February 18, 2008 at 08:46 PM