‘N/A’: Madam Speaker vs. a new girl-boss

‘N/A/’: Ana Villafañe & Holland Taylor. Photo: Daniel Rader.

N/A
By Mario Correa
Directed by Diane Paulus
Through August 4, 2024
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
https://natheplay.com/
 

By Scott Harrah

This explosive, provocative one-act two hander never mentions former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and young superstar New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez by name—draw your own conclusions by the play’s title, N/A—but there’s no doubt “N” (the incredible Holland Taylor) and “A” (Broadway veteran Ana Villafañe) are thinly veiled composites of two of the most famous and feared women in Washington politics.

The show opens as “A” is livestreaming a video on social media from the office of “N,” when “N” was still House Minority Leader and “A” had just won a primary against a moderate Democrat. Don’t come to N/A expecting a bona fide biography of the two women because this is, after all, a fictionalized account of what Nancy Pelosi and AOC might have said over the years behind closed doors. It’s doubtful the real Ms. Pelosi ever said anything as condescending as “you arrived on our shores like the Beatles; they were a band” to Ms. Ocasio Cortez.

Mario Correa’s account tells us much of what we already know about the real-life women on which the characters are based. Ms. Pelosi had decades of experience in Washington and embodied everything about the so-called Washington “establishment:” She’s white, she came from “privilege,” she’s a centrist who negotiates with lobbyists and Republicans and compromises to get things done and produce “results” for her voters, but she’s also a strong woman and a trailblazer with a reputation for putting the men who tried to silence her in their place.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, as we already know, is a Latina woman from the Bronx who represents the far-left progressive wing of the Democratic party. She considers herself an activist for such issues as climate change, single-payer healthcare and fighting income inequality for working people. She is portrayed here as idealistic, while Ms. Pelosi is a moderate, seasoned political woman willing to cut deals and make concessions with Republicans in order to get the work done in Congress. The two women have different ideas on how to govern but the two things they have in common are passion and guts. Both are examples of the popular new feminist slang term “girl-boss.”

Scene changes in N/A are depicted by designers Possible and Lisa Renkel with colorful projections on a screen of six time periods over four years, from 2018 to 2021, showing the 2018 midterm elections and ending shortly after the January 6, 2021 insurrection. “N” and “A” argue about everything from ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to how to pass legislation on divisive issues.

The script is sharp but at times uneven and contains witty banter that likely never took place between the two women. Playwright Mario Correa’s story of imagined one-on-one meetings between the two political powerhouses is far from perfect, but N/A is still an evening of compelling theater, thanks to the outstanding performances of the two actors.

Holland Taylor may not be as glamorous as the real Nancy Pelosi, and Myung Hee Cho’s costumes don’t exactly capture the high-end fashion panache of the ex-House Speaker (the pink power suit “N” wears in the show looks nothing like anything Ms. Pelosi would ever wear). However, Ms. Taylor is incandescent in every scene and brings the right amount of spunk and hard-edged determination to the character. Ms. Taylor has perfect comic timing for many of the show’s droll one-liners, and she is acerbic in all the right places. Ms. Taylor, as “N,” is hilarious when she talks “baby talk” on the phone to her young grandchild, then hangs up and springs back to her usual tough persona.

Ana Villafañe is best known for playing pop star Gloria Estefan in Broadway’s On Your Feet! Ms. Villafañe has now captured the essence of another Latina icon, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.  From the gleam in her eyes to the manic energy of “AOC,” Ms. Villafañe gives a Hollywood-style interpretation of the far-left political legend. She more than resembles the woman she portrays, and she’s more charismatic and likeable than the real “AOC,” and that’s not a bad thing to be in a two-character one act. By the show’s end, Ms. Villafañe brings a sense of vulnerability to “A” that is refreshing and also touching.

See N/A for no other reason than to watch the sparks fly between these two incredible actors.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 28, 2024
Reviewed at June 27, 2024 press performance

‘N/A’: Ana Villafañe. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘N/A’: (background) Ana Villafañe & Holland Taylor. Photo: Daniel Rader.

‘N/A’: Holland Taylor. Photo: Daniel Rader.