Here in America at Orange Tree Theatre

I try to support Orange Tree Theatre as it is one of my nearest and while its programming is not always to my taste there was a lot going for Here in America, the phrase "multi award-winning plays for the RSC and National Theatre" as did the presence of Shaun Evans the star of Endeavour.

That said, Orange Tree Theatre is proving to be quite popular these days and when I finally got around to booking my options were limited and I had to settle for a high stool in the third row, Lower Floor C30, at £35. The late booking also meant I ended up with a distanced performance (first introduced immediately post-Covid) which was just as well as my third row seat would have had poor visibility if not for the spaces in the first two rows.

Here in America looks at McCarthyism through the eyes of playwright Arthur Miller and his frequent collaborator director Elia Kazan. Their discussions, and actions, were mostly around whether to give the names of other possible communist sympathisers when they were interrogated. 

And that was about it. The play was essentially a documentary on a specific part of the proceedings of The House Committee on Un-American Activities and while it was interesting to hear the views of Miller and Kazan it was a story with little drama.

I also felt that in setting the play wholly in America in 1952 the opportunity was missed to say something about the echos of McCarthyism in modern politics, such as the way that all criticism of Israel is called unpatriotic, despite the very obvious genocide and war crimes.

The lack of any real drama or message was a shame as the production was very good in all other aspects. I very much appreciated the theatre of the show and the skills of all those bringing it to the stage but I was left wondering what the point of it all was.