BROADWAY SNAP-SHOT
by Russell Bouthiller

Dateline: 21 November 2004

DEMOCRACY

The first left-of-center politician in many years gains the executive office, is hailed by the liberal media, breathes new life into a party long out of power, dazzles world leaders with his daring intellect and manages to have all his good intentions compromised by a measly sex scandal. Sound familiar?

No, this is not a play about Bill Clinton, although we surely can look forward to that, one day. This is Michael Frayn's new play, DEMOCRACY, which comes to Broadway via Britain under the direction of Frayn's frequent partner, Michael Blakemore. Starring James Naughton and Richard Thomas, DEMOCRACY explores the complex relationship between the former West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, and his erstwhile assistant, Guenter Guillaume.

And, no, before you read certain meaning into "sex scandal" and "complex relationship," this is not a play about a romantic affair between two men. At least, not in the gay way. Brandt and Guillaume did, however, develop a kinship and interdependence that would rival any gay marriage or domestic partnership, one replete with deep affection and harsh betrayal.

Brandt's Social Democrats party came into power after 40 years of minority status. During that time, Germany had endured the emergence and destruction of Nazism and been divided by Cold War politics. East Germany had fallen to the Communists and West Germany evolved into a cobbled federation of petulant, free states. With his upset victory of 1969, Brandt became the first Social Democrat to lead the newly structured Federal Republic of Germany.

Frayn's DEMOCRACY paints the hills and valleys of Brandt's political career. He details how Brandt maneuvered left leaning parties to form a coalition government. He shows us the backbiting among advisers and operatives. He examines Brandt's policy of relaxed relations (or appeasement?) with his Soviet bloc neighbors which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. And, we learn that throughout his administration, his not-so-trusted aide, Guenter Guillaume, was reporting everything to his Stasi contact, Arno Kretschmann (Michael Cumsty), while, at the same time, developing a keen admiration for the man he deceived.

Blakemore's staging of DEMOCRACY meets Frayn's complex script head on. Moving about in the icy, utilitarian, multi-layered environment created by set designer Peter J. Davison and lit by Mark Henderson, Blakemore's players—ten in all—collide and collude like rats in a maze.

James Naughton proves to be more than a handsome face as the illusive figure of Willie Brandt. Richard Thomas creates a compassionate spy in Guenter Guillaume, though we never fully understand the conflict of his loyalties between East and West. Broadway veteran Robert Prosky brings a sly, slick quality to his Machiavellian Herbert Wehmer. And, John Dossett as Helmut Schmidt and Richard Masur as Horst Ehmke stand out as the calculating political operatives.

DEMOCRACY is a complex play that takes for granted its audience's knowledge of recent European affairs. Like his previous political yarn, COPENHAGEN, Frayn presents real people from the pages of history in a convincing dramatic context. DEMOCRACY, a rich tapestry of historical fiction on the stage of the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.