Review
Socially relevant without ever becoming preachy, clever enough to pass for cynical but also so subtly moving that its emotional payoff comes as a surprise, John Strand's new comedy is a political fantasy, a notoriously difficult genre, and it works, [presenting] politics in our nation's capital with a kind eye for human foibles and an unerring sagacity…. The play flirts with a serious debate on madness as a social construct, as a defense against madness and cruelty on a larger scale. But it remains a comedy, albeit a deadly serious one…. LINCOLNESQUE offers no easy answers. It simply lets us laugh as we begin to grapple with some truly horrifying questions. --Octavio Roca, Miami New Times
John Strand's beyond-smart-and-clever new play is a fascinating and philosophical exploration of what it takes to survive in an insane world; when and by what means we check out; what is truly important; and what is wrong with politics and, by extension, America. Strand manages to imbue his characters with humanity and the ability, however obliquely, to address these issues. --Charlene Baldridge, San Diego News
Fiendishly clever and soberingly serious, LINCOLNESQUE is the most entertaining civics lesson you are likely to encounter… One part fantasy and on part satire, the play still manages to be smart, smart-mouthed and timely. It could easily be labeled a comedy if what it says about us and those we vote to govern us were not so sad. --Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post
John Strand's beyond-smart-and-clever new play is a fascinating and philosophical exploration of what it takes to survive in an insane world; when and by what means we check out; what is truly important; and what is wrong with politics and, by extension, America. Strand manages to imbue his characters with humanity and the ability, however obliquely, to address these issues. --Charlene Baldridge, San Diego News
Fiendishly clever and soberingly serious, LINCOLNESQUE is the most entertaining civics lesson you are likely to encounter… One part fantasy and on part satire, the play still manages to be smart, smart-mouthed and timely. It could easily be labeled a comedy if what it says about us and those we vote to govern us were not so sad. --Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post
John Strand's beyond-smart-and-clever new play is a fascinating and philosophical exploration of what it takes to survive in an insane world; when and by what means we check out; what is truly important; and what is wrong with politics and, by extension, America. Strand manages to imbue his characters with humanity and the ability, however obliquely, to address these issues. --Charlene Baldridge, San Diego News
Fiendishly clever and soberingly serious, LINCOLNESQUE is the most entertaining civics lesson you are likely to encounter… One part fantasy and on part satire, the play still manages to be smart, smart-mouthed and timely. It could easily be labeled a comedy if what it says about us and those we vote to govern us were not so sad. --Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post
John Strand's beyond-smart-and-clever new play is a fascinating and philosophical exploration of what it takes to survive in an insane world; when and by what means we check out; what is truly important; and what is wrong with politics and, by extension, America. Strand manages to imbue his characters with humanity and the ability, however obliquely, to address these issues. --Charlene Baldridge, San Diego News
Fiendishly clever and soberingly serious, LINCOLNESQUE is the most entertaining civics lesson you are likely to encounter… One part fantasy and on part satire, the play still manages to be smart, smart-mouthed and timely. It could easily be labeled a comedy if what it says about us and those we vote to govern us were not so sad. --Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post
About the Author
JOHN STRAND is a winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for Playwriting, and was named Broadway Play Publishing's Playwright of the Year for 2008. His most recent work includes the book and lyrics for Hat! A Vaudeville, a new musical with a score by composer Dennis McCarthy (South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, Calif.); Lincolnesque, a dark comedy about politics and madness in Washington, DC, (The Old Globe, San Diego, directed by Joe Calarco); and Lorenzaccio, his adaptation of Alfred de Musset's 1834 French classic (The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC, directed by Michael Kahn). Strand is the author of the book for the musical The Highest Yellow, with a score by Michael John LaChiusa, at Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va. Among his other plays are Lovers and Executioners, Arena Stage, winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play; The Diaries, commissioned by Signature Theatre and nominated for the MacArthur; Tom Walker, commissioned by Arena Stage. Additional plays are Otabenga, directed by Michael Kahn at Signature Theatre, nominated for the MacArthur; The Miser, an adaptation of the Molière play set in Reagan-era America, at Arena Stage; Three Nights in Tehran, a comedy about the Iran-Contra affair, Signature Theatre; The Cockburn Rituals, Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Strand spent 10 years in Paris, where he worked as a journalist and drama critic, writing in English and French, and directed New York University's Experimental Theater Wing in Paris. His novel Commieland is forthcoming from DavidApplefield.com, Paris and Washington, DC (summer 2011).
