Maybe you’ve had one or both of these reactions to Donald J. Trump:
He comes up in conversation, and you begin by saying, “I’m completely speechless — there’s really nothing to say…” and then you can’t stop talking.
You think to yourself with a genuine sense of wonder, “How did this happen?”
The first reaction is not at all uncommon, apparently, and for the second, there’s an answer, and it can be found in Mike Daisey’s “Trump Card,” re-written and performed by Seth Lepore at The Shea Theater on Friday, Nov. 4th.
Daisey, a performer known for entertaining audiences and confounding critics, began writing the play before this strange phantasmagoria known as the 2016 American election cycle even began, interested merely in Trump’s repeated hints that he might, someday, run for the position of chief executive officer of the United States.
Then, when Trump officially entered the race, Daisey took his show on the road, playing to standing-room-only audiences, and decided to make his play open-sourced and adaptable.
After all, he’s not the only one who can’t stop talking about Trump.
Seth Lepore, an Easthampton-based performance artist and educator known for his monthly productions of the Seth Show, took the challenge of recreating Daisey’s malleable script. He added details about the political scene in his home state of Rhode Island to shed light on the allure and danger of charismatic personalities loosed upon political arenas.
“There are lots of parts of the show that are about Mike’s personal life in relation to Trump as a performer and showman,” says Lepore. “I needed to tweak those toward my own story. Also, even though Mike wrote out a script, he works extemporaneously. … I know the road map for the night, but how it comes out each time is different.”
A preliminary show has already been staged in Easthampton, and the energy in the room was described as “electric,” with everyone hanging on every word and gesture. “It felt like a moment,” noted director Linda McInerney, the head of Eggtooth Productions.
Humor and horror often occupy the same territory, strangely enough, and Lepore remarks on the powerful experience of audiences collectively, “cringing while they’re laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all.”
And by all accounts (I have not yet seen the play), the absurdity extends beyond this year’s election cycle and into the barely perceptible, mysterious mechanics of American culture. Did we know racism and sexism was as widespread and deeply-rooted as it has turned out to be? Did we know that reality TV and American politics had so much in common? Did we know how many white Americans fear “white genocide” as a dreadful and imminent threat?
Trump’s remarkable success has revealed to liberal-leaning, thinking Americans the extent of their own ignorance. There have been surprises in this year’s election cycle, and there are surprises in the play.
While Lepore claims that his job “is to have empathy” for the subjects of his performances, he hasn’t “found an ounce for Trump yet.” That does seem like a stretch, but maybe, through further reflection, Americans can find empathy for themselves and for one another.
Last month, “Trump Card” director Linda McInerney’s company Eggtooth Productions staged a magical production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” at The Arts Block in Greenfield. Simply put, “The Winter’s Tale” is about the terrible losses that can result from human fear and ignorance, but it also illustrates how, with learning and patience, humanity can redeem itself and regain a portion of what has been lost.
About “Trump Card,” McInerney says, “Any time we reflect upon ourselves through the power of theater, we have the opportunity to grow and evolve and come to understand one another more deeply.”
The election season is winding to an end, and in addition to asking How did this happen?, we might also start asking ourselves, Where do we go from here? Whatever Nov. 8 brings us, greater understanding will likely be more important than ever.
“Trump Card,” starring and adapted by Seth Lepore and directed by Linda McInerney, will be at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 pm.
Tickets are available at bit.ly/trumpturners. For more information, see sheatheater.org
Jenny Abeles is a writer and educator living in Greenfield. You can search her work online by including her middle name, Terpsichore.