Bush on trial

“Political theater is unusual enough,” says San Diego playwright Todd Blakesley. “Interactive political theater is almost unheard of.”

But that’s exactly what Blakesley—along with local theater guru Ray Tatar—are doing. They’re putting President George W. Bush on trial (in absentia) for treason—via a provocative, semi-scripted performance. And the audience is expected to participate.

“People who buy tickets don’t come in as an audience,” Blakesley said. “From the moment they walk through the door, they’re dealing with a trial situation. They go through security, including a metal detector. They can decide if they want to be a witness for the defense or prosecution, or a juror.”

There is a presiding judge (actor Mark Heckman, also co-director of the show). There are also three lawyers for both sides. And in a realistic touch, “one of our actors [playing a lawyer] actually teaches constitutional law at a local law school,” Tatar said.

Blakesley insists that the outcome is not predetermined. “There’s equal time for people who have things to say in defense of Bush’s policies and the actions he’s taken.”

“Anywhere from a third to half of the show is testimony … that’s different from night to night,” Blakesley said. Parts of the show are scripted, “but those parts keep changing” as political events unfold. Presidential adviser Karl Rove and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales recently resigned, for instance.

“What I really wanted to do was give people a forum to say what’s on their mind,” Blakesley said. “It’s the kind of discussion we didn’t have before we went to war in Iraq. The great majority of the country sat and watched TV and thought ‘I hope it’s quick,’ instead of asking the hard questions, like ‘Why are we committing the resources and lives to such a drastic effort?’”

“This is a chance for people to come out and talk about that, and how it’s affected them,” Blakesley said.