Trial on the Potomac

George Bugatti’s “The Trial On The Potomac”

“The Trial On The Potomac” by George Bugatti at the St. Clement’s Theatre is an interesting show in that it brings the audience “What If ?”. What if then president Nixon wanted to go to trial instead of stepping down? What if all the damning evidence against John Dean, John Sirica and Leon Jaworski was brought forward to possibly exonerate the president? These were some of the questions given last night and the theory of the plot was a good one, however, not always well executed upon. The acting too was uneven and so was Josh Iacovelli’s direction. At times actors went through the process robotically, Richard Nixon (Rich Little) seemed tired and lethargic in his role, Richard Wingert as Senator Edward Kennedy’s accent went in and out and cheapened the role as a result.

“The Trial” had many good things in its 90 minutes, a nicely appointed set by Josh Iacovelli; very good lighting by John Lant and some solid acting by Kelsey Lea Jones as Diane Sawyer. The script and the inconsistent acting was not enough to sustain the show, however. When we had a strong Peter Rodino (Tom Gregory) and a very good Geoff Shepard (Nick Mauldin), we had a terrible Gordon Liddy and a worse John Dean. It’s not that Matthew Hammond is a bad actor, he is not, it’s more that the direction by Iacovelli doesn’t capture who Liddy or Dean were; the mannerisms, cadence and style are never there in this play. Anathema to Broadway and off Broadway we actually have a play that is pro Nixon; the concept in of itself is shocking and the questions asked that underlie the play are very good as well, the play just never sustains momentum. A wonderful speech at the end by Rich Little never makes up for the lackluster conversations that he has with Dean nor Shepard. Iacovelli has Victor Colicchio (John Sirica) acting more like John Gotti than a trial judge. Paul Caliendo as Judge Warren Burger is very subdued and flat at times; he is humorous at others and here lies the inconsistency of Bugatti. Some of the performers as well as support team are also brought into question... Why is Judge Andrew Napolitano brought in to be a consultant? Napolitano was a Bergen County Judge at one time and he was consulting on FOX News before recently being thrown off the station for sexually harassing a young man. How can his insight into an off Broadway show be of any use? Geoff Shepard himself lived through the Watergate hearings so why didn’t he do all the technical consulting?

If “The Trial On The Potomac” is ever to succeed it would need to be rewritten at certain points and it would need direction that captures the individuals that were brought into this play. The play would need stronger and more consistent acting throughout.