Laurie Metcalf Plays Hillary Clinton, Presidential Loser
Hillary Clinton is a familiar Broadway visitor; the show doesn’t go on until the crowd stops applauding her. But one would imagine a trip to the Golden Theatre this spring might be a little too meta for comfort.
Laurie Metcalf and playwright Lucas Hnath have returned to the Golden Theatre, after the Tony-winning success of A Doll’s House, Part 2, in 2017. And here again, on the relatively blank canvas of Chloe Lamford’s set, Metcalf is playing a woman at a crossroads, trying to forge a victorious path away from male obstruction and the baleful judgement of those around her.
In Hillary and Clinton (booking through July 21), Metcalf is playing Hillary Clinton, at a key moment during her 2008 duel with Barack Obama (Peter Francis James). The New Hampshire primary is about to happen. She’s in a hotel room. Her campaign has stalled, what should she do? Accept Obama’s offer and give up her campaign, and join him as his running mate? Fight on? Have Bill Clinton (John Lithgow), her husband, the crutch she does not want but may well need, come and join her campaign? Her adviser Mark Penn (Zak Orth) wants her to fight on, but without Bill.