Lee Blessing’s last play about an American president — the Tony-nominated “A Walk in the Woods” — featured a chief executive discussing nuclear disarmament with his Soviet counterpart.
It’s a distressing sign of the times that the president in his latest work, “When We Go Upon the Sea,” is awaiting trial for war crimes.
That would be George W. Bush (Conan McCarty), who’s ensconced in a luxury hotel suite at The Hague in the Netherlands. Attending to his every need is a mysterious Dutch manservant, Piet (Peter Schmitz), and the alluring Anna-Lisa (Kim Carson).
The play depicts W. as having clearly fallen off the wagon, downing shots of bourbon (after having Piet taste some first to make sure it’s not poisoned), snorting coke and taking full advantage of Anna-Lisa’s offer to provide some “relaxation.”
He’s also unrepentant about his role in recent events, blaming faulty intelligence for his decisions and pointing out that “Bill Clinton got impeached, not me.”
Thankfully, Blessing’s less bent on providing a predictable fantasy scenario for outraged liberals than he is in exploring philosophical issues relating to power and responsibility. And the enigmatic supporting characters are clearly symbols — although of what, it’s not clear.
That’s the problem with this frustratingly obscure work. There are plenty of ideas hinted at in the frequently comic exchanges — Piet is quite the cut-up, taunting Bush with hints that his indiscretions are being recorded or that Anna-Lisa may in fact be his wife — but the playwright generally fails to get across what he’s trying to say.
The terrific performances provide some compensation.
McCarty’s all-too-human Bush is far from the caricature we might expect, Schmitz’s Piet is fascinatingly enigmatic, and Carson’s seductive Anna-Lisa would make any man forget his marriage vows.