Evenhandedness might be a Socratic ideal, but it can be awfully boring on stage. Playwright Douglas Post goes out of his way to present both sides of what he perceives as today’s most significant cultural rift: the seculars against the religious, and vice versa. In the middle stands a moderate Republican congressman from Texas (Tom Amandes, conflicted yet stalwart, in the production’s one believable performance), who finds himself caught in the crossfire between his bitchy wife (Bethany Alexander, as a comely environmentalist) and his new chief of staff (Lindsay Gould, as a comely born again Christian). With a hurricane headed directly for the house, the women argue Al Gore versus Armageddon, playing tug-of-war with the congressman’s loyalties—until one of them abruptly drops the rope. The problem with Post’s approach is that no discernable point of view emerges. The play (currently at Victory Gardens) is populated with mouthpieces for one side or the other, instead of fully realized personalities. And under Dennis Zacek’s direction, the performances reflect that artificiality. (Nina Metz)
