An assistant to U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith warns her not to “poke the bear” as she continues to publicly criticize her colleague, the powerful Sen. Joseph McCarthy. But in the season-opening production from Portland Stage, it appears that Smith may herself be a bear, albeit in high heels.
In his compelling play “Conscience,” author Joe DiPietro seeks to inspire a renewed faith in doing things the right way as it dramatically returns us to a pivotal moment in American history.
Though Smith may have cast her share of controversial votes over her long career, the senator from Maine (and the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress) stood virtually alone on the side of righteousness in delivering her Declaration of Conscience on the Senate floor in 1950. In it, she denounced (without naming him) the likes of McCarthy of Wisconsin who had begun a reign of terror against adversaries he designated, mostly without any proof, as being communist sympathizers and dangerous subversives.
For a time, McCarthy gained many prominent supporters. His methods and motivations, though, were primarily aimed at his personal aggrandizement rather than any sense of patriotism he may have claimed as a justification. He freely employed the sharper edges of gender and sexual politics to achieve his ends. Smith knew he liked to “revel in the chaos” he created.
In this serious work spiced with witty humor, four accomplished actors, under the direction of Lisa DiFranza, play all the roles that are necessary to provide a sense of Smith’s fortitude and the difficult times in which she lived.
Kate Udall plays Smith as a new senator with an urge to do things the right way in the rapidly changing post-World War II America. She’s tough, with a vulnerability that only peeks through in brief moments. Udall projects Smith’s strength while allowing the senator to also reveal a corner of herself that knows the habits of wayward men. There’s a wary sort of respect portrayed between her character and fellow Republican McCarthy, even as she is repulsed by his drinking and womanizing.
Liam Craig’s McCarthy projects the “twinkle” in the reprobate senator’s eye as he verbally fences with Smith about her out-of-step moral courage. Craig, indeed, gives McCarthy a dark charisma that makes him almost a tragic figure. “We all need enemies,” he sadly asserts.
Isabelle Van Vleet gives her assistant of, and paramour to, McCarthy a sympathetic, if off-kilter, idealism that complicates the narrative. Likewise, John Maddaloni, as Smith’s assistant and growing confidante, pushes political realism while hoping for more as he struggles with his own identity.
Characters occasionally address the audience directly, filling in historical contexts from the edges of the minimal set by Germán Cárdenas Alaminos. Period costumes by Julie McMurry place the action in a mid-20th-century setting, as do black-and-white images projected in the rear. Lighting by Marie Yokoyama frames the action nicely.
The issues and arguments presented in this engrossing production may seem disconcertingly familiar to contemporary audiences as a Maine political legend is respectfully revisited.
Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.
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