Trust etc.

I saw "Trust" last night over on theater row. Now, I said when starting this thing off I wasn't going to do theater reviews, and it pains me when I see a show and can't, you know, give you my full impressions of it. But I don't do theater reviews for a few reasons: first, it's a professional thing. This is a public website, and I'm an aspiring theater DIRECTOR not theater CRITIC, and I don't really feel like making enemies (and friends) based on what I think and say about people's work. Second, I don't want to watch a play as a critic, I want to watch it as an artist.

So let me say this about "Trust" (full disclosure: I went to the same college as the director, and the light designer designed my last show): It's really quite good. The script is taught and intense, the acting is good (Except for the lead actor and actress- they give powerhouse performances) the directing is smooth and effective, it has (this will sound weird, but see the show and you'll know what I mean) easily the ballsiest, most risk taking set changes I've ever seen.

I'd describe the show more, but it's a thriller (that's all I'll say) so the discovery of the relationships between the characters is part of the fun. Listen hard when you go see it- the Irish accents are thick and the slang flows a mile a minute. "Trust" is one of the best pieces of realism I've seen in a long time, and definitely worth the price of admission.

On to other matters- George Tenet resigned yesterday, as you probably well know. The coverage of this has been *insane* so far, and I have nothing really to add. I would recommend reading Slate.com's two pieces (here and herer) and Josh Marshall here. I know these are center lefties, and you may (like me) put yourself further down in the "looney" area of the spectrum, but their analysis is good (and there's a couple of great jokes in there to boot).

I think President Bush is in some real trouble. Both Marshall and Fred Kaplan point it out, Kaplan saying that the temple is about to fall down on Bush's head. Let's review: his administration has already been called criminal for its Medicare propaganda, which is probably the least of the crimes committed (including attempted bribery of a congressman) in pursuit of passing a bill no one likes, Bush is hiring a personal lawyer for the Valerie Plame affair (remember her?), he had to fire his CIA chief because either A: they couldn't hide his massive incompetance anymore or B: he makes a good, loyal fall guy for everyone else, the American public will almost certainly see through the whole "handover" charade and realize that if over a hundred thousand troops are still in the country, nothing's really changed. And then there's Abu Ghraib, WMD, the death toll, the 9/11 commission, etc. etc. and so forth. Things are not looking good for him.

So where's John Kerry? Now might just be the time to get ambitious and say "see, all of his ideas were wrong. Here's some new ones." This is what people mean by a positive alternative vision. Bush's Presidency is a failure from top to bottom. I wish Kerry would stop saying "here's my similar idea to Bush's, but I'm a different guy, so I'm gonna do it right this time" and get creative for once. It feels like Kerry is trying to redo the cabinets in a burning building.

That said, he's a much better choice than the current guy.