What I liked
The writing on this piece is superlative, as is to be expected from Jim Hanna, but all four performers in this piece deliver brilliant work. Each character is a pastiche of familiar political tropes, all desperate for relevance or influence beyond that which even a mayor of a small town of under 17,000 residents can provide. You feel for the utter powerlessness that drives their hope and determination to emerge victorious, even while you laugh at their misfortune. And then things get a little strange, and I loved it so much, I didn’t just buy the t-shirt, bought the whole goddamned fucking t-shirt factory.
Wait. I mean gosh-darned. Oh god no. Oh god. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- I just, I got carried away. Is…is everything okay? It’s a very good show and I enjoyed it tremendously. Did I mention that there’s all kinds of videos and postcards and stuff?? Oh god I hope that wasn’t, I mean, don’t worry about it, you should just see it, everything is so fine and everyone is so nice!
What I didn't like
I wouldn’t dream of changing a thing, apart from extending it to a full run. Kudos to the Fringegoers that told me I absolutely had to see it. I haven’t seen such a tight-lipped spoiler-averse crowd since when Avengers Endgame came out. Well done all.
My overall impression
It’s not difficult to see the inspiration in the real world drawn by this piece: set amidst a vague sense of apocalyptic unease, we watch as our possible representatives attempt to outperform democracy to an apathetic and quietly hostile crowd of disengaged citizens. You won’t expect precisely how the characters in this piece behave, based on the mind-melting churn of our real-world news cycle. You may expect to enjoy this delightfully peculiar and well-crafted descent into the madness of local government.
