THEATER REVIEW: 'Both Your Houses'

Our story: An idealistic, young crusader is elected to the House of Representatives. He discovers he’s really the tool of a corrupt political machine. His first assignment is pushing a pork-filled bill through Congress. He turns on the powerful interests that got him elected and opposes the bill. The fight is on.

You’re probably thinking “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Actually, in this story, the aptly named Mr. McClean (Tom Coiner) is the one who goes to Washington. He’s the protagonist of Maxwell Anderson’s “Both Your Houses.” His Pulitzer Prize-winning 1933 play is now in session at the Asolo Rep.

Idealist that he is, having landed on the House Appropriations Committee, McClean immediately sabotages the campaign promise that got him elected. The heart of the bill: “deficiency” appropriations for a dam in his water-and-electricity starved district in Nevada. (An obvious reference to the Depression-era Hoover Dam, kids.) The dam is just a few million dollars shy of being built. But, Dudley Dooright that he is, McClean goes off on a tear when he’s shocked (shocked!) to discover that the Nevada construction industry helped fund his campaign. Beyond that, the dam’s $40 million true cost has been padded with pork at the behest of various lobbyists and local interests. So, despite the good the dam will do, McClean’s going to fight it — even at the cost of his political career. Damn the dam! It’s the principle of the thing.

May Thomas Jefferson forgive me, but I find myself siding with Doug Jones’ cheerfully corrupt Rep. Solomon “Sol” Fitzmaurice character. McClean, evidently, took those “How Your Government Works” flow charts seriously. This pork is how it really works. Doesn’t he know that? His father was a muckraking newspaper publisher. C’mon.

But everybody loves an idealistic crusader — even a doomed one. (Just ask Don Quixote.) On top of that, Anderson’s morality play comes with “West Wing”-style crosstalk, “Sopranos”-style Machiavellian machinations and snappy dialogue worthy of a screwball comedy. (By special dispensation, Director Frank Galati has trimmed Anderson’s 1933 three-act script to a breezy two acts.) The fast pace works for the often-hilarious material and adds to McClean’s down-the-rabbit-hole disorientation as he tumbles into the upside-down world of Beltway politics.

The actors populating this world draw you in to the mad logic of it all. Coiner’s improbably naïve Mr. McClean isn’t always Mr. Nice Guy. He’s willing to destroy lives — up to a point. There’s something scary about his idealism, which he deftly brings across. David Breitbarth plays Simeon Gray, the committee chairman, with gravitas and intelligence. Gray’s as much of a statesman as he can be in the land of quid pro quo; he’s one of the lives McClean might destroy. Jones’ standout portrayal of the besotted Fitzmaurice is worthy of W.C. Fields. (Jones is always great at lovable rogues.) Carolyn Michel’s character is a rare female representative with a rare sense of ethics. Gracie Lee Brown and Katie Cunningham are fine as two female assistants; their smart, funny cross-talk has the perfect screwball comedy vibe.

Russell Metheny’s set conveying this surreality was a knockout: a sliding room ratcheting to become either a meeting room or Simeon’s office as needed. Behind it all, an extreme close-up of the Capitol dome with storm clouds gathering.

And a storm is definitely coming.

Like Mr. Smith, Mr. McClean pulls a clever stunt to throw a wrench in the political machine. Instead of a filibuster, he crams the bill with every slice of pork possible. He makes it so obviously corrupt that he’s certain it’ll tank. After all, there’s a limit to the corruption that even Capitol Hill can stand.

The kid’s got a lot to learn.

IF YOU GO
“Both Your Houses” runs through April 12, at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call 351-8000 or visit asolorep.org for more information.