NEW YORK—"A fantasia is a work in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted," so states Webster's dictionary. That's apparently playwright Susan Bernfield's approach on the life and times of Rose Mary Woods, Richard M. Nixon's personal secretary and executive assistant for 23 years.
The "stretch" of the title refers to Woods's testimony in federal court during the Watergate affair. When reaching for the phone one day, she failed to release her foot from the tape recorder's erase button, thus deleting four to five minutes from a White House tape that figured in the investigation.
Bernfield has combined fact and imagination to conjure up a commanding character. Don't think dowdy secretary—no. Woods, at least in Stretch, is an attractive, gutsy dame. She adored her boss, stuck with him through thick and thin, and was loyal to him to the end.
In the person of actress Kristin Griffith, Woods would have been delighted, I believe. As the play alternates from those heady days when Nixon was flying high, to Woods's last days in a nursing home in Ohio, Griffith exercises her actor's quick-change artistry, effecting lightning-speed age changes.
Woods first became attracted to Nixon when he was just a young congressman because he kept his receipts so neatly. "This is my destiny. Beautiful paper, just beautiful," she beams.
Highly competitive, Woods fought Nixon's henchman Haldeman for a well-located desk near her boss. She became like one of Nixon's family, enjoying barbecues in their backyard, traveling with them, learning to take dictation and type on a moving airplane.
When she has a night off she goes dancing, sometimes dancing by herself. This is a fun-loving, vivid woman, with actress Griffith pulling out all her emotional and physical stops.
Later, when the great days are over, the elderly Woods is watched over in the nursing home by a caring young orderly (Brian Gerard Murray). She educates him. She feels it is her duty to keep Nixon's integrity alive. "He did good!" she cries.
The orderly reads portions of the daily newspaper to her, she stopping him gruffly when he starts reading a boring piece, listening intently when he finds a potent political piece. Of course she's the kind to hate the place, running "wheelchair races with all these … nothings," ignoring what she refers to as their "tribal meetings."
Then one of the elderly residents, Bob (Evan Thompson), befriends her. He is more intelligent than the rest; the two discuss general life philosophy, the news, and the impending election. Rose Mary Woods died two days after the second inauguration of George W. Bush.
Stretch is both an intriguing character-study and a reminder of the days of Richard M. Nixon.
In addition to Kristin Griffith's tour-de-force performance, Brian Gerard Murray, Evan Thompson, and Eric Clem, as the orderly's roommate and buddy, lend excellent support.
Played by a nice combo, incidental background music by Rachel Peters punctuates and accompanies the play. Tying it all together is fine direction by Emma Griffin on Jo Winiarski's set, which conveys much in little space.
Stretch (a fantasia)
A New Georges production
The Living Theatre
21 Clinton Street
Lower East Side
Tickets: (212) 868-4444 or www.Smarttix.com
Closes: May 26
Diana Barth writes and publishes New Millennium, an arts newsletter. She can be contacted at diabarth@juno.com
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