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This TV show may be brought to you by Sanka, but the play is brought to you by the cycle of history.
In celebration of their fiftieth anniversary, Northlight Theatre is taking us back to the 1950s. On a backlot, the set of “The Goldbergs” sits before us, designed by Jeffrey D. Kmiec. At the helm is show creator and star Gertrude Berg (Cindy Gold), who essentially invented the sitcom. She’s faced with an impossible choice: risk losing her show or fire her co-star Phillip Loeb, who was accused of being a communist in the “Red Channels” report.
James Sherman’s “The First Lady of Television” is astounding. He seamlessly blends the intersections of popular culture, politics, socioeconomics and religion. This show is an excellent reminder that none of us live in a vacuum. In fact, we never have. Seventy years later, we are still finding ourselves battling it out with America Firsters and vitriolic politicians badly hiding their bigotry under the guise of moral absolutism—which wouldn’t apply to them, of course.
Leading the charge in this production is Gold as the show’s matriarch. Her larger-than-life presence on stage gives her the gravitas to play someone like Gertrude Berg. It is a marvel to see Gold reckoning with the damning choices laid before her. Unlike with a TV show, the audience can feel the tension among the cast as they weigh their choices. We feel it in real time with only brief commercial interruptions. Meanwhile, William Dick as Phillip Loeb gives us room to explore the more emotional, less pragmatic side of the situation. Dick’s concern for his friends and fear for his future are palpable even in moments without any dialogue from him.
What makes Sherman’s text particularly excellent is that it never feels like being lectured to. Even when Mark David Kaplan, as Eli Mintz, succinctly walks us through Loeb’s life’s work as well as the dynamics of the Red Scare and antisemitism, it feels like a natural progression of conversation. Like a friend explaining a situation to you, rather than a patronizing elder telling you the way things are. Especially as our modern society faces similar issues, these connections become even clearer. The evening after opening, when I attended, several sniffles were coming from the audience.
That’s the beauty of live theater: it exists in the moment. “The First Lady of Television” cannot escape the realities of a shared political hellscape more than we can. All we can do is try to learn from figures like Berg and Loeb, and do the best we can to push back against bigotry at every turn, not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect each other.
And don’t forget to drink your Sanka! It takes out ninety-seven percent of the caffeine, but leaves the sleep.
“The First Lady of Television” runs through October 12 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie. Tickets are $46-$98 before fees, available at northlight.org.
