One Act Satire “Laura’s Bush”

mLive reviews a new one-act play by Jane Martin, performed at OutFest, that deals with a repressed librarian’s attempt to help a desperate Laura Bush. After videotaping a large number of Laura Bush’s television appearances, the librarian becomes convinced that the first lady is repeatedly blinking the words “help me” in Morse code.

Obviously, Martin’s over-the-top, silly but smart farce won’t be for everyone; it’s not meant to be.

For one thing, it invites the audience to wildly, even salaciously, imagine the secret inner life of a woman who is constantly under public scrutiny but who never reveals much about herself or her thoughts.

Though the play (to be performed around the country this fall) will doubtless inspire controversy, Martin clearly doesn’t expect audiences to believe any of her campy speculations about the first lady’s inner life; instead, Martin simply seems to urge audience members to give themselves lot and permission to wonder with utter abandon.

Update: 09/23 16:59 EST by B: “Laura’s Bush” is on the road and is coming to a theater near you (LA, Detroit, San Francisco, Houston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Philly, etc.)…Laura’s Bush website