POLITICAL AXE
Political Axe, the Cloud 42 theater company’s program of solo one-acts, takes a caustic look at both these political trends. This double-edged Axe pairs Second Lady, M. Kilburg Reedy’s monologue by a Democratic vice-presidential candidate’s wife, with The David Duke Songbook, a purported intimate encounter with the former Ku Klux Klan leader and recent Republican gubernatorial and presidential candidate.
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The setting is Duke’s office in Metairie, Louisiana, where he is entertaining supporters with a casual concert of his favorite show tunes. With an ingratiating smile that turns quizzical as he reflects on how he’s been misunderstood, Duke intersperses musical selections with personal commentary–obviously welcoming the chance to speak to his public directly, instead of through the distorting filter of the “liberal media.” Unabashed about his “interest in white Christian heritage preservation,” he resolutely rejects his reputation for racial and religious intolerance; and though he doesn’t make a point of saying so, his musical interludes are (new) testament to his open-mindedness. He draws heavily on Jewish songwriters–George Gershwin, Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne–and on black jazz and blues styles as he tinkles his way through such autobiographically tinged tunes as “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire,” “High Hopes” (complete with audience sing-along), “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “They All Laughed” (“Ho ho ho–who’s got the last laugh now?”).
Improvising on the subject of volunteerism, she reminisces about how she met her husband-to-be through college activism–and waited to catch him on the rebound, despite her own conviction that she wasn’t good enough for him. Touching on the topic of two-career marriages, she recalls giving up her own teaching job to devote herself to hubby’s rise to power. As the cost of that sacrifice to her own already low self-esteem and emotional stability becomes more apparent, she gradually falls apart on the stage.
