RALEIGH -- David Mamet, known for gritty plays about greed and betrayal, doesn't come to mind as a writer of light comedy, but that best describes his 2008 political satire, "November."
Theatre in the Park's appealing regional premiere emphasizes the play's farcical elements but provides plenty of belly laughs.
The setting is the Oval Office, where President Charles Smith is desperately seeking ideas to kick-start his re-election bid. He wonders why the public is against him, but it becomes clear during his confab with lawyer pal Archer that his lucrative under-the-table deals and disdain for all races, creeds and orientations other than his own have hurt his poll numbers.
Supportive, clear-eyed Archer tries to convince Charles that it's time to quit, but Charles clings to the hope he can turn things around with help from his lesbian speechwriter, Clarice, whom he tolerates because she's the best. Meanwhile, he tries to extort payment from a turkey council representative for pardoning birds at Thanksgiving, all the while plotting with a Native American chief to change the holiday symbol to the codfish for cash from that industry.
One might expect Mamet to skewer presidential shenanigans and foibles, but he opts for broad, easy targets in increasingly silly situations.
The first act is tight and hilarious, but the second doesn't sustain the same level and soon devolves into sitcom.
The role of the president was written as a vehicle for Nathan Lane, so it's a perfect fit for Ira David Wood III's talents. He displays impressive stamina in this whirlwind part, drawing on his expert comic timing, character voices and rubber-jointed physicality. If he makes the role more sweetly likable than the script indicates (including downgrading the playwright's usual barrage of expletives), it does little damage to such middle-drawer Mamet.
Archer is the only other fleshed-out role, and Jesse R. Gephart takes full advantage, matching Wood in timing and characterization as the trusted minion who cleans up all of his employer's messes. Larry Evans does what he can with the befuddled turkey council rep, but Scotty Cherryholmes is a one-note Chief Grackle, and Cameron West is much too quiet and naturalistic for the script's heightened reality. Wood's direction keeps things lively on Stephen J. Larson's fine approximation of the Oval Office.
Mamet fans may be disappointed by this particular script and its staging, but those seeking knee-slapping entertainment should not be.
