Gore Vidalยs play The Best Man is about two presidential candidates (no, not Hillary and Obama). Secretary of State William Russell (played by Jim Salners) and Senator Joe Cantwell (Justin Doran) are pulling out the stops as they battle for the nomination at their partyยs national convention. When Cantwell threatens to reveal a damning personal secret about Russell, Russellยs own ethics are put to the test. Will he fight fire with fire and drag Cantwell into the mud? Or will he keep his honor but lose the nomination? The wit and wisdom of writer Gore Vidal are timeless, and audiences will recognize the plotยs dirty tricks, feigned populism and docile flip-flopping (we see them often enough on the nightly news). Main Street Theater gives you a primer on what to expect when this campaign season goes into overdrive.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Starts: Aug. 25. Continues through Sept. 16
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2007.