By Ben Lerner
Did you hear about the congressional hearings infringing on the right to free speech currently occurring on West 55th Street? The artists under interrogation are all dead, however. No, this isn’t supernatural. It’s very, very real. These hearings took place long ago, in the 1940s and 50s, but they are being performed this summer, verbatim, in New York City Center’s off-Broadway revival of Are You Now or Have You Ever Been.
Eric Bentley’s play, which is aptly and most accurately described as an American docudrama, takes transcripts directly from the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings that interrogated well-known entertainers, actors, writers, and directors about their potential past associations with the Communist Party. The Red Scare led to blacklisting of many artists – mostly those who refused to “name names.” There were several notable figures who chose to comply with the committee’s witch hunt, selling out former friends and colleagues in the name of patriotism, regardless of its attack on first amendment rights. Some named these names gleefully. Others felt sick doing so. History has shown that some, but not all, of their legacies have been sullied by their betrayal.
Don’t expect a traditional dramatic narrative structure in Are You Now. The testimonies vary in length and intensity, and they can be dense. Some audience members may be disengaged by the relentless, repetitive questioning – although this redundancy was certainly included by Bentley to illustrate the committee’s deliberate strategy to break down the witness’s moral compass.
But if you’re open to going back to school for a one-act, 100-minute history lesson – with obvious parallels to today’s turbulent political landscape – hop in the time machine to witness these infamous hearings as they occurred, performed expertly by a strong ensemble. Bentley’s docudrama was first staged in 1979, while the Cold War was still ongoing but blacklisting had ended. Hearing these testimonies live and acted emotionally highlights their cruelty – and plenty of the words spoken then ring deeply true today.
In a unique casting move, Are You Now is performed by a core six performers who have by far the most stage time and dialogue, along with a rotating cast of guest actors who mostly have a single scene as a noteworthy subject of a hearing. The core six, who will star in the play’s full run, include Michael McKean, Jason Babinsky, and Adam Kantor as the Republican congressmen and staffers leading the long interrogations. They co-star with Steven Boyer, Frederick Weller, and Brooks Ashmanskas, who play multiple witnesses each – such as playwright Arthur Miller, director Elia Kazan, and choreographer Jerome Robbins, the latter two of whom named other names to the committee.
Interestingly, the standouts in the cast came from some of the guest performers I saw – likely because those testimonies were most entertaining and theatrical, whether comically or dramatically. The clear scene-stealer for laughs was David Krumholtz, chewing the scenery effectively and accurately as Guys & Dolls co-writer Abe Burrows. Some of his jokes, direct from the transcript, are so clever, you’ll find it hard to believe the committee stayed stoic. As actor Lionel Stander, Jay O. Sanders ups the ante, delivering a dramatic testimony with a force that both amuses and devastates. On the other end of the spectrum, Billy Eugene Jones is powerful and passionate as singer Paul Robeson (the only nonwhite character), who bravely confronts the committee’s hypocrisy and racism in a stirring testimony that closes the docudrama.
While the testimonies are mostly presented chronologically, the most entertaining ones are in the latter half of the one-act, so the pacing doesn’t always feel even. Some are very long and tough to listen to (again, deliberately), while others seem oddly brief. (Sally Murphy’s guest role as the only female character, author Lillian Hellman, is barely more than a cameo. Molly Ringwald will take over the role later in the summer.)
The best testimonies come from aforementioned guest stars Krumholtz, Sanders, and Jones, though they all leave the production June 21. A slate of new performers, including Bob Odenkirk, are scheduled to replace them. But it’s the core six cast members who have the hardest jobs, performing endless dialogue that is less exciting but most clearly illustrates the insidious, relentless nature of the hearings. In a feat of memorization, McKean, Babinsky, and Kantor are onstage interrogating witnesses for the entire play, and in a feat of versatility, Weller, Ashmanskas, and Boyer juggle multiple roles that are less juicy and full of more text than the guest star spots.
Ultimately, Are You Now teaches us how history repeats itself by bringing the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities to life in a very educational docudrama format. The testimony transcripts selected by Bentley back in the 1970s are not always the most captivating, but neither were the real-life hearings. They’re balanced by the standout guest performances that are so entertaining you’ll forget they were delivered to Congress, not written for the stage. You can expect to be educated about our country’s checkered past and may find yourself taken aback by how relevant the witnesses’ direct words feel today. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, Are You Now or Have You Ever Been runs at New York City Center Stage I through September 11.