Writer: David Edgar
Director: James Dacre
David Edgar’s Here in America, in its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, challenges an over-simplified narrative about Arthur Miller’s relationship with the House Committee of Un-American Activities (HUAC) in the 1950s. Miller, Edgar suggests, cannot easily be presented as a moral hero, bravely standing up to McCarthyite witch hunts, and getting his just revenge in The Crucible. Instead, Edgar’s Miller may be ferociously articulate, but he is also evasive, refusing to answer questions directly, prepared ultimately to put his own feelings before moral principles.
Played with fiery intelligence by Michael Aloni, Art, as Miller is called throughout, remains an opaque figure. In contrast is Gadg, the nickname of his once-close friend Elia Kazan. Shaun Evans gives him an appealing openness and emotional honesty, helped by the almost constant presence of Kazan’s bright, articulate wife, Molly.
The action shuttles between two timelines – 1952, when Miller and Kazan’s friendship implodes, to ten years later when Miller invites Kazan to direct his new play. David Edgar gives a strong sense of the original bond between the two men, both sons of immigrant parents and, crucially, both witnesses to the disastrous effects of the Depression on their families. Their politics align: both begin with a passionate commitment to end capitalism, which they believe has destroyed American society. Both, however, start to question their allegiance to communism.
In 1952, Kazan is brought before the HUAC and is pressurised into naming mutual associates of the theatre cooperative, The Group. Edgar dramatises this in a powerful scene at the start of the play in which Miller calls at the country home of Kazan and Molly. Kazan agonises about explaining why he is going to commit this betrayal. And it’s here that we sense the difficulty Edgar finds in constructing the play: what exactly motivates Kazan? Here in America is intense and engaging, but throughout, it is something of a challenge to understand exactly the evolving positions of the two protagonists.
Molly is a useful character, in that Edgar gives her most of the exposition, and it is she who, towards the end of the play, turns sharply on Miller. She demands to know why, if he once attended Communist gatherings, did he never actually sign up for the party, as Kazan had done? And why, if he professed so passionate an opposition to Nazism and Fascism, did he not go to Europe to fight? It’s a question one suspects Edgar himself wants to know the answer to.
The play, therefore, is necessarily dialogue-heavy, but is made digestible by James Dacre’s pacy direction. The characters often speak over each other, giving a sense of the urgency of the debates. The two male characters are ably supported by Faye Castelow, a sparkling Molly, and by Jasmine Blackborow, who is simply superb as Marilyn Monroe. The play explores the way both Miller and Kazan form intense relationships with other women – sometimes with the same woman, as in the case of Monroe – and that part of the tension between them is this sexual rivalry.
Here in America is a very talky play, one that lacks the elegant clarity of Miller’s own dramas, but is made watchable by the first-class cast and sharp direction. The striking set and lighting design (Simon Kenny and Charles Balfour) contribute to the powerful sense of urgency the play generates.
Runs until 19 October 2024
