Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates

Mark Taper Forum
135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.
Through Jan. 22
Tuesday-Friday 8 p.m.
Saturday 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sunday 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $42-$55
(213) 628-2772
www.taperahmanson.com

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan returns to the Taper with his political satire, Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrades. Leaping from the legendary duo's exploration to various crusades in American history, the play uses these events to comment on American foreign policy and the corruption of its early ideology. While ambitious in scope and clever in concept, the play never seems to find solid ground, and instead depends on one-liners and obvious parallels to make its point.

James Barbour and Jeffrey Nordling star as Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, respectively, and they provide the most colorful and personal elements. The debaucherous Lewis clashes with his more stodgy counterpart, and the two maintain an easy fraternal bond that remains strong throughout.

The dialogue is peppered with parallels between our country's attempts to strongarm Native American tribes and later situations in other countries. Lewis and Clark's desire to implement Jefferson's dream of an Empire of Liberty still rings eerily true, and the play's point is made quickly, but not succinctly. Once this concept is established, there is little else to drive the play.

The time leaps begin at the end of the first act, where the duo find themselves transported to Cuba, about 90 years in the future and facing a Spanish soldier. It all happens almost too quickly to keep track of, but they soon wind up in the Philippines, Vietnam and Iraq. Because the show is so jumpy and so intent on making sure we understand the parallels between these events, be sure to read the program with Tom Bryant's incredibly helpful timeline of U.S. history and background on Lewis and Clark. Perhaps this is part of Schenkkan's point, but it can be assumed that most of us are woefully undereducated about the details of these events.

The travelers are accompanied by a consistently humorous Eugene Lee, as Clark's long-suffering slave York. He would much rather be elsewhere, but quietly does what is expected of him, which speaks volumes when he reappears later as Colin Powell. In a similar vein, Tess Lina appears in various versions of ethnic women, from Jefferson's slave lover to Sacagawea to a Vietnamese villager -- however, her role as the constant "other" is a bit like being beat over the head with a tolerance stick. The rest of the cast is rounded out by a capable set of supporters who play various natives, crew members, and military men.

Much of this experience is based on fact, gleaned from the explorers' original journals and historical books, but somehow this authenticity never shines through. The design by Jeff Cowie is cleverly executed, making it seem quite effortless to navigate a large wooden ship around the vast stage and capturing the feel of various locations. The costumes (by Judith Dolan) are purposely exaggerated, like plunking a giant headdress on a George Carlin lookalike (Tony Amendola) and calling him a chief, so that the characters resemble caricatures of what modern Americans think these figures should have looked like. The result is that it all ends up a bit muddled, where the show winds up straddling magical realism, satire, and historical drama, but none of it is fully realized. -- Sarika Chawla