You can’t dream up a better subject for a play than Richard Nixon, a man of Shakespearean scope.
Douglas McGrath’s new off-Broadway drama, “Checkers,” offers occasional glimpses into the former president’s complicated depths, but doesn’t quite add up to an insightful portrait.
The title refers to a famous speech Nixon (Anthony LaPaglia) made in 1952, when, as Eisenhower’s running mate, he was pummeled by the press for potential financial abuses. To defend himself, the then-senator toppled the barrier between the private and public spheres in a live, 30-minute television address. It’s harder to stay mad at a man who boasts of his scant material possessions and his cocker spaniel, Checkers.
The speech — which Pat Nixon (Kathryn Erbe) watches from a seat next to her husband — and its genesis make up the meat of the show. They are bookended by a pair of scenes set in 1966, when Nixon pondered a run for the presidency after four years of civilian life as a lawyer.
LaPaglia, a Tony winner for “A View From the Bridge” and a regular on TV’s “Without a Trace,” captures the distinctive way of speaking of the mid-’60s Nixon, as well his frustration with his political exile.
This works well with McGrath’s more pungent lines.
“You know the definition of a p – – – y?” Nixon asks his strategist and friend Murray Chotiner (the excellent Lewis J. Stadlen). “Someone who’s afraid of a Democrat.”
But LaPaglia plays the younger Nixon in much the same way, even though the pol’s mannerisms hadn’t gelled by then — check out some videos on YouTube. This bit of shtick may come from trying to dress up the often clunky writing.
The production looks very good, thanks to director Terry Kinney and inventive projection designer Darrel Maloney, but the play’s quick scenes fail to build momentum.
“Checkers” works best when focusing on the Nixons’ relationship, especially Pat’s take on the role politics plays in their lives.
“If you win, I can’t bear the life,” she tells her husband in ’66. “And if you lose — if you lose! I can’t live with you as a loser again.”
Little did she know he’d do both.