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Next In Line

by John Warren
review in SF Weekly April 10, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore)

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Next in Line
A satire about the everyday rot in the electoral process may seem familiar to
San Franciscans
BY MICHAEL SCOTT MOORE

It's about time somebody wrote a satire of
politics in San Francisco. Wandering ballot
boxes, shifty voting registrars, and the general
toxic presence of a political consultant like
Jack Davis give off a stink that deserves not
just one dire comedy, but a whole uproar --
yet most of our playwrights have been silent.
John Warren approaches the problem with a
new play called Next in Line, about
(unspecific) political consultants. It shows a
young local strategist named Bobby Deans
working skillfully for liberal causes in a
cramped, messy office that doesn't even have
a coffee machine. When he lands a contract
to help an underdog politician win a state
Assembly seat, his friend and (liberal)
colleague Maxwell surprises Bobby by
backing the conservative favorite. Bobby's
not above Machiavellian schemes of his own, but he does have a few
scruples, which the Assembly race tears to shreds. The script could easily be
transferred to New York or L.A. -- Warren doesn't dig into local politics
with any bloodthirsty verve, which is too bad -- where it could educate
audiences just as well about everyday rot in the electoral process.
Unfortunately, under Jason Ries' direction, it lacks the energy Warren wants
to evoke. Nora El Samahy does strong work as Bobby's assistant, but in
general the cast feigns the hustle of a campaign office without quite bringing it
to life.
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