State of the Union -- by Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay (1946)

Description

Read Playbill.com's summary and try to convince me that you didn't think about President Trump: "An idealistic millionaire is selected to run for president, despite the fact that he is estranged from his sharp-tongued wife and involved with another woman, in Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy." 

The entire play centers on Grant Matthews' non-campaign/campaign for the presidency. His relationship with his wife Mary gets further complicated as Kay Thorndyke, James Conover, and Spike Macmanus advise him. He wants to run a campaign on honesty, but allows his ego to get swollen by the celebrity-fication of politicking. Ultimately, Grant must decide if he can balance his true beliefs with his campaign presence.   

Candid Reaction

• I think that the Foreword should be required reading.
• Thomas L. Stokes, author of the Foreword, exclaims, "It is good if we can see ourselves so plainly that we can smile understandingly, if somewhat wryly, at the man or woman there in the mirror" (vi). Some art is to be an untarnished mirror for self-evaluation. State of the Union tries to be that mirror. 
• Stokes includes the pain in looking in the mirror. He suggests that all humans play a role in allowing evils to exist. 
• The media person in the play, Spike, quips, "They even took away my typewriter -- but they gave me six telephones" (5). The audience gets a taste of the humor that will dominate this play. 
• How can you read this and not think of Trump?
• Seriously, Grant's focus on the economy screams Trump. 
• Ah, yes. The trickiness of navigating intimate relationships throughout a campaign. 
• I feel as if Spike is some type of fool or Falstaff. He ends the first scene with a line that rings almost Shakespearean: "Politics makes strange bedfellows" (36). 
• Okay, they use the term "America Firster" . . . 
• I find it interesting that while the team prepares the speech, they blatantly admit it should not sound like a speech. The "need" for politicians to be "relatable" and "home-y" continues today. 
• Mary must excite feminist readers. 
• Mary would be a fun character to play. 
• The description of the hotel's decor is pretty funny. 
• Gotta love it when playwrights can be clever enough for a short line like "I'm with onions" (105) to provide double-meaning and humor.
• Uh-oh. Mary and Jim might cause more drama. 
• Grant is advised, "I don't mind your having your head in the clouds-- but I wish you'd keep your feet in the voting booth" (111). Bernie Sanders? Too soon?
• Crouse and Lindsay slide in some biting lines on how politicians don't really represent the people. 
• Are you in need of a line so bitter you will need to cleanse your palate? "When human nature gets to behaving like human nature, they pass a law repealing human nature" (136).
• Oh, you want another quote that will stick in your head? Here ya go: "[L]azy people and ignorant people and prejudiced people are not free" (160). 
• Wives being neglected by their politicking husbands is addressed in the play. 
• I don't know how to read this dialogue with how it is spaced out on the page. I wish the playwrights would have given some explanation for this. 
• The quips are endless in the play: "You politicians have stayed professionals because the voters have remained amateurs" (170). Hey-o!
• It's always about the children. 
• Mary's fiery interrogation about the pursuit of democracy is invigorating. 
• What does it mean that there is a belief that people can only speak their mind if they are not a politician?
• What a tidy ending! 

Top Two Aspects/Reasons for Winning
1. Historical Context
According to the information provided before the script starts, this play is first performed on Broadway in November 1945. It does not take a historical whiz to realize that this show premiered directly after WWII ended. The Foreword by Thomas L. Stokes presents a most convincing argument as to the importance of this show. Stokes focuses on the purpose of the play: to urge the audience to return to the roots of democracy. Quite an American sentiment to platform postwar, no?   

2. Allegory and Comedy  
So far, I have only read two other plays in this project that have been categorized definitively as comedies. This play does have a notable amount of humor with a surplus of one-liners. Crouse and Lindsay use comedy to sneak in their political commentary without coming across as preach-y. The play is elevated due to its allegorical nature of Grant's rise to power.

Classroom Implications
I think I would have a hard time using this text in class, especially because I found it to be such a slow read. I felt it would be significantly more entertaining to watch than it is to read. It could serve as an interdisciplinary text for history and English teachers. To compare Grant's journey with Trump's journey is an obvious choice. 

Personal Takeaway
Commentary on politics is commentary on humanity.

Ranking

	Dialogue	Characters	Plot/Conflict	Symbol/Literary Devices	Overall Enjoyment	TOTAL SCORE 6.25
0	Unfollowable; unrealistic; diction does not match character	Undeveloped; does not reflect humanity	Not engaging; predictable; reader can step away from text because it isn’t gripping	Devices are apparent for cleverness and do not enhance the story	Reader has no interest in re-reading play
1	Not consistently realistic	Well-developed; most depictions reflect humanity (1.5)	Semi-engaging; some unnecessary plot-points (1)	Devices somewhat enhance story  (1)	Reader would re-read with pleasure and reminded of work (1)
2	Realistic; connotative; diction matches characters (1.75)	Fully-developed; depictions reflect humanity	Engaging; unique; reader finds it impossible to put down text because the conflict is so gripping!	Devices seamlessly enhance the story and provide rich interpretation	Reader would re-read the play on own volition, enthusiastically