There are scenes in American politics so familiar you could watch them with the sound off and not miss a thing. Near the top of that list has to be the public apology for infidelity. In fact, the disgraced politician’s words of remorse and promises to reform only distract from the spectacle’s most fascinating figure: the mute, shell-shocked wife standing next to the podium where her husband is trying with all his might to look and sound sincerely disgusted with himself. They say politics is theater, but the truth is that it’s bad theater—the scripts are predictable and the actors are never convincing.
The biological argument is underscored by the show’s framing device, a school presentation delivered by Bill’s adopted tween daughter, Cassidy (Emily Chang), on the subject of sexual dimorphism in the animal kingdom. Assisted by Jeff Sugg’s video projections, she cuts in every now and then to supply entertaining examples of differences between males and females of the same species, from gnus to something called the bone-eating snot flower.
But that’s mostly because Norris keeps having him make the same points, at length and with diminishing returns. In this particular Hobbesian state of nature, the diatribes are nasty, brutish, and definitely not short. v
Through 2/7: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM (no shows 12/24-12/25 and 1/1), Sat-Sun 3 and 7:30 PM, Tue 7:30 PM Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Downstairs Theatre 1650 N. Halsted 312-335-1650steppenwolf.org
