Senator Charles Schumer to Take Part in March 23 Democracy Talkback
By Robert Simonson
22 Mar 2005
New York state senator Charles Schumer will take the stage of the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 23 as part of the first in a series of talkbacks following performances of Michael Frayn's Democracy.
The postshow discussions at will be called "Democracy Debates," according to Variety. They will happen after Wednesday and Thursday shows, and feature figures from politics.
Schumer, a Democrat, is the senior senator from New York. His state partner in the Senate is Hillary Rodham Clinton, also a Democrat.
Democracy is set in the West Germany of the late '60s and early '70s, after Willy Brandt ("Villy," as the Germans call him) has been elected chancellor, the first leader from the left to achieve that station in nearly 40 years. James Naughton plays Brandt, known for a charisma, political bravery and seeming ethical purity which created a sort of cult of personality around him. He was also known, however, for his philandering, heavy drinking, fits of depression and an inability to make decisions.
Brandt was brought down by his seemingly trustworthy personal assistant, Günter Guillaume, who, though he came to admire and love his boss, was in secret an East German spy.
Richard Thomas plays Guillaume, in eye-shadowing eyeglasses. He also acts as narrator, telling the story of Brandt's rise and fall (apparently, from prison) to his East German contact in Bonn, played by Michael Cumpsty. The action begins with Brandt's election by a razor-thin margin and ends around the time the Berlin Wall fell.
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