Adaptor and Director: Christopher McElroen
There is probably no better time for Christopher McElroen to bring his 60-minute play Debate: Baldwin VS Buckley to the UK following its premiere in New York, as both James Baldwin and William F. Buckley have renewed cache as a result of appearing in James Graham’s Best of Enemies which concluded its transfer run just weeks ago down the road from Stone Nest where this production is staged. With rekindled interest in these political commentators, McElroen’s piece is sure to find an audience but is it theatre or merely recitation?
In practice, it proves to be a bit of both. The show focuses on a 1965 debate staged at the University of Cambridge Union between Baldwin and Buckley on the topic ‘Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?’ Over the course of an hour, two undergraduates present opening arguments for and against the motion followed by the two celebrity debaters who speak to the topic with fervour and intelligence before the Union members vote.
McElroen’s play uses a number of theatrical techniques, beginning with the recorded debate playing on a small television set in which the President and moderator sets the topic and introduces the interlocutors. Welcoming them to the floor, the reality emerges from the recording into the room as the actors take their places, seated across from one another in mildly combative style. At the end of each monologue, Adam J Thompson’s video design returns to the televised speaker to provide the segues to the next stage of the debate.
In performance too, the actors work hard to create considerable depth and personality in their characters, lifting the words from the flattened recording and giving them a new life – one of the stated aims of company ‘the american vicarious’ who created the show. Although not listed in the cast, the two performers playing the undergraduates do well to set the scene and provide a platform for the protagonists to take to the stage.
Teagle F.Bougere is fantastic as Baldwin, softly spoken, calm and intellectual at first but becoming increasingly impassioned as his time wears on. Bougere speaks fast and emphatically in Baldwin’s style but stops suddenly to let ideas sink into the room. Eric T. Miller captures Buckley’s charisma using intense eye contact with members of the audience, addressing his points to one individual at a time and revelling in the platform the debate gives him. And both appear to reflect on and silently react to each other in the moment.
But in staging the debate almost exactly as it played out, Debate: Baldwin VS Buckley never steps back to analyse why this was such an important moment or grapple with why it is being presented to audiences now, in this form. The physical audience don’t even get to vote. And while Best of Enemies has created a space for this show, the timing also exposes its comparative weakness as a theatre experience. Of course Baldwin and Buckley’s words resonate today but McElroen’s production doesn’t entirely explain why we should watch them in this format and not on the television recording itself
Runs until 8 April 2023
