Leopard and the Fox review (Oct07)

'THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX'
An Old Story, With No End in Sight
By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
Rajiv Joseph's new play, The Leopard and the Fox, about the overthrow of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan by the military in 1977, is so timely that daily headlines have made sick jokes of some of its lines.

Mr. Bhutto‚s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, was herself prime minister, twice, before corruption charges against her led to self-imposed exile in 1999. Mr. Joseph's program notes point out that Ms. Bhutto was to return to Pakistan on Oct. 18, the day after the production opened; as the play begins, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf (Andrew Guilarte) says in a jocularly ominous telephone exchange with Ms. Bhutto: "Come back home, and we'll greet you. It will be awkward!"

But of course a recent audience at the TBG Theater already knew what had happened when Ms. Bhutto returned: She was the target of an assassination attempt as she rode in triumph through Karachi. Scores of supporters were killed, and hundreds wounded, by the bombing that day. For most of the play, which was inspired by a BBC teleplay and is keenly directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Ms. Bhutto (Gita Reddy) is seen as a young Oxford graduate. Bookish and headstrong, she floats through a tense world of innuendo and threats, seeming all the more vulnerable for it.

But this is not really Ms. Bhutto‚s story. It is the story of two complicated male relationships, and their intersection with international politics. As Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Ramiz Monsef) and his Army chief, Gen. Zia ul-Haq (also played by Mr. Guilarte) circle each other in Pakistan, a Washington reporter, Dave Cherry (Michael Crane), and his drinking buddy, the C.I.A. agent Ed Asmaan (David Sajadi), play another dangerous game.

A little more nuance would help; surely the alcoholic, self-righteous journalist character, simultaneously naïve and cynical, needs to be re-examined in this genre, along with lines like „"his is all a game to you, isn‚t it?" But Mr. Sajadi breathes new life into the tired C.I.A. baddie role, and Mr. Monsef's maddeningly arrogant, man-of-the-people charmer does a mesmerizing dance around his mulish, insecure general.

As David Newell's excellent, compact set underlines, the worlds these four men inhabit, though separated by great distances, are still far too close for comfort ˜ much like this play and recent events.

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	Review 'THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX' An Old Story, With No End in Sight By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO Rajiv Joseph's new play, The Leopard and the Fox, about the overthrow of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan by the military in 1977, is so timely that daily headlines have made sick jokes of some of its lines. Mr. Bhutto‚s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, was herself prime minister, twice, before corruption charges against her led to self-imposed exile in 1999. Mr. Joseph's program notes point out that Ms. Bhutto was to return to Pakistan on Oct. 18, the day after the production opened; as the play begins, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf (Andrew Guilarte) says in a jocularly ominous telephone exchange with Ms. Bhutto: "Come back home, and we'll greet you. It will be awkward!" But of course a recent audience at the TBG Theater already knew what had happened when Ms. Bhutto returned: She was the target of an assassination attempt as she rode in triumph through Karachi. Scores of supporters were killed, and hundreds wounded, by the bombing that day. For most of the play, which was inspired by a BBC teleplay and is keenly directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Ms. Bhutto (Gita Reddy) is seen as a young Oxford graduate. Bookish and headstrong, she floats through a tense world of innuendo and threats, seeming all the more vulnerable for it. But this is not really Ms. Bhutto‚s story. It is the story of two complicated male relationships, and their intersection with international politics. As Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Ramiz Monsef) and his Army chief, Gen. Zia ul-Haq (also played by Mr. Guilarte) circle each other in Pakistan, a Washington reporter, Dave Cherry (Michael Crane), and his drinking buddy, the C.I.A. agent Ed Asmaan (David Sajadi), play another dangerous game. A little more nuance would help; surely the alcoholic, self-righteous journalist character, simultaneously naïve and cynical, needs to be re-examined in this genre, along with lines like „"his is all a game to you, isn‚t it?" But Mr. Sajadi breathes new life into the tired C.I.A. baddie role, and Mr. Monsef's maddeningly arrogant, man-of-the-people charmer does a mesmerizing dance around his mulish, insecure general. As David Newell's excellent, compact set underlines, the worlds these four men inhabit, though separated by great distances, are still far too close for comfort ˜ much like this play and recent events. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Plays \| Library/Storefront Copyright 2007, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

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