Laura Bush (Kaleo Bird), Desiree Jones (Amanda Schoonover) and Dody Dotson (Tina Brock).

Jane Martin's new play, Laura's Bush, opened Wednesday night, October 13 at The Playground at The Adrienne as a presentation of the Azuka Theatre Collective. The script, completed by the elusive Martin only three months ago, was inspired by the "mysterious nature of the [Bush] administration," according to Jon Jory, spokesman for the playwright.

This play is one of many politically influenced pieces by Martin, that include a play currently being produced in Minneapolis, titled Flags, which is about the Iraq War. Laura's Bush, "is a political burlesque… a leftist look at politics that is really, really funny," explained the show's producer, Kevin Glaccum, who added, "This campaign is so close, I like the idea of people having a laugh…"

Jory felt similarly about the intent of such a politically charged play just weeks before the election. "The administration isn't transparent, so it gives opportunity for wild eyed conjecture and comedy," he said.

Jon Jory.

Intentions to provoke comedic response from the audience aside, what is
particularly interesting about this production is that Martin agreed to waive the royalty rights on the script provided it become produced before the November 2 elections. This is a significant motion on the part of the playwright because it gives insight into the character and nature of
Martin and her political agenda: she is willing to sacrifice her royalties in order that the political statement, in which she direly believes, is dramatically made. It also serves to remind the audience that while parts of the play are purely comedic, the political commentary isn't simply for shock value; Martin is making an important, powerful commentary about our current leaders and their political agendas.

The playwright's statements are enabled to go unchecked, moreover, because there is no way to go vis a vis in a debate with Jory. "The name 'Jane Martin' is a pseudonym," explained Jory, who added, "I will give you no information as to who this person is."

Jory, a professor of drama at the University of Washington, has worked with Martin for 25 years. He met the playwright at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky, for which he has directed several of Martin's plays.

	Laura Bush (Kaleo Bird) and Dody Dotson (Tina Brock)

His friend's latest work--- which Martin labels as a "satirical satyr play," is a political parody married (illegally, of course) with the absurd tale of Desiree, a Kansas farm boy's whore, and Dody, a crazed, closet homosexual librarian, who team up to rescue Laura Bush from her repressed White House existence. As the unlikely-but-hilarious trio finds itself in hiding, the women explore the world of their own twisted and suppressed lesbian sexuality.

The First Lady begins to reveal the absurd truth behind events taking place in the White House. For instance, she tells, George Bush Jr. has been kidnapped and subsequently lobotomized. Meanwhile, a gang of "conservative republicans, who are spawned from hell and the legion of the damned," headed by a woman masquerading as Condoleeza Rice, lingers in anticipation of Laura's return, outside the trio's hiding place. As the revelation of the true identity behind the cast of White House dwellers and security advisors brings the nature of the "neo-liberal" Republican Party to hysterical light, the three women continue in their exploration of perverse, latent sexuality.

Whatever the Azuka Theatre Collective lost in production time (Andrew Merkel, the show's Director, was presented the script in New York City less than three months ago) was regained via the acting prowess of the vibrant, fresh-faced Amanda Schoonover who plays Desiree and a captivating performance by Kaleo Bird as Laura Bush. Tina Brock also provides an energetically fussy turn as the librarian Dody.

Martin manages in what can only be described as a stroke of genius to create a poignant criticism of our country's administration by placing the Bush administration's ideals and Christian values in comedic juxtaposition to the behaviors of her far-from-conservative lineup of inane, liberal, over-the-top lesbians-in-captivity. With guest appearances from Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rice, Powell, and Rumsfeld, the "neo-conservative vampires" and their absurd way of predicating human values, manage to leave the audience rocking in their seats with laughter despite the all-too-serious and impending content.

Laura's Bush is playing until October 29 at the Playground at the Adrienne Theatre, on 2030 Sansom Street. For tickets call (215) 733-0255. For more information, go to www.azukatheatre.org.

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