Theater: The Public Theater / 425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY, 10003
Synopsis:
That Hopey Changey Thing is set on election day, November 2, 2010. Uncle Benjamin's dog has died and his nieces and nephew have gathered for dinner in Rhinebeck, New York, to surprise him with a new one. While the polls close, the Apple family discusses memory, manners, and politics. Richard Nelson (Conversations in Tusculum at The Public, James Joyce's The Dead) returns to The Public with a timely new play that examines the state of the nation at this pivotal moment in our history.
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November 3, 2010: More disappointment is in store for Democrats in mourning who might hope that “That Hopey Changey Thing,” a new play at the Public Theater written and directed by Richard Nelson, would provide the solace of a taunting attack on the rise of Sarah Palin. They will have to search for the comforts of aggrieved rhetoric from the usual providers on cable television.
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November 3, 2010: Richard Nelson, obviously disturbed by the sorry state of governance in our country, has lobbed a grenade called "That Hopey Changey Thing" onto the Anspacher stage at the Public Theater. The play, whose title is a reference to Sarah Palin's sneer at Barack Obama's followers, is not a tidy drama; rather, it is an outburst of anger and a plea for reason and hope. Nelson calls it a "disposable play," in the sense that many of its extremely specific references to our current world will soon date it, but I would use two other words: challenging and salutary.
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November 3, 2010: Site specific plays have become a sub-genre of sorts. Add to that, the time and date synched play. To be specific: Richard Nelson's 90-minute That Hopey Changey Thing which takes place on election day, November 2, 2010, the same day that it its opened at the Public Theater which commissioned it and has mounted it with a stellar cast.
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November 4, 2010: Richard Nelson's "That Hopey Changey Thing" begins with a dying cry of a dog, Oliver. The whimper echoes the sick feelings of everyone at the cozy Rhinebeck home of high-school English teacher Barbara Apple (Maryann Plunkett).
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November 3, 2010: At first, That Hopey Changey Thing, now at the Public Theater, looks to be the "disposable" work playwright Richard Nelson suggests it is in his program note. Taking place on November 2, 2010 -- which is when the opening audience watched it -- the comedy-drama has the earmarks of something already becoming a period piece.
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