In 1977, television captured the dramatic interactions of British journalist David Frost and former President Richard Nixon in Frost’s famous interviews. These tense interactions have become legendary.
Through Sunday, L.A. Theatre Works will host performances of Peter Morgan’s Tony Award-nominated play in James Bridges Theater. With Bart DeLorenzo as director and actors Tom Virtue, James Marstsers and Jonathan Silverman heading the cast, the play will be recorded for radio and broadcasted on UCLA Radio and other stations.
Tom Virtue, who plays Nixon, said he believes the verbal tension between Frost and Nixon is what makes the play so appealing.
“Aside from all the politics, (the play is about) two men going head to head,” Virtue said. “Both of them (are) really in exile and trying to climb their way back to a place of prominence again. You’re watching a battle of two men vying to win a contest.”
At the same time, Marstsers, who plays Frost, said the complexity of Nixon is at the heart of the debates.
“He’s not a two-dimensional villain.” Marstsers said. “He was a man trying to serve his country. He was a patriot and believed in what he was doing. He was just paranoid at the same time.”
Because L.A. Theatre Works specializes in making audio recordings of their plays, producing director Susan Loewenberg said that “Frost/Nixon” will forgo certain visual details. Actors will appear in period-appropriate clothing but not full costume, and the set will be relatively simple.
But focusing on the speech in the play gives the actors opportunities to capture the characters more genuinely, according to Virtue.
“Sometimes, someone comes in and they don’t look the part,” Virtue said. “But here, audibly, they take you to another world where you forget how the actor looks, because the sound of their voice has created a total character, without any makeup, without any theatrics.”
Loewenberg said that, more than anything, L.A. Theatre Works’ recordings aim to capture great acting.
Virtue said he agreed, and that the reduced focus on the visual in “Frost/Nixon” allows him to exploit the medium at hand.
“It’s nice to do something (with a microphone) that’s a couple inches away and modulate from that point ““ from one inch to one foot, the proximity in radio ““ and create an arena out of that distance,” Virtue said.
For Silverman, who plays Jim Reston, performing for audio has presented new challenges as an actor.
“I had to unlearn and get rid of everything,” Silverman said. “I had to remember that even though the audience bursts into laughter when I do this physical gesture, that physical gesture doesn’t exist anymore.”
According to Loewenberg, the piece’s visual simplicity and the smaller audience are particularly suitable for this play.
“I was very taken with the first reading with these actors,” Loewenberg said. “In hearing them just sitting around the table, I found it more interesting than on Broadway. There’s something very, very compelling about what happened and about the interaction between (those men).”