The Embedded Gang

Piety has reigned since September 12, 2001, but if the Los Angeles–based Actors’ Gang has any say, the season of mockery has now begun. Headed by writer/director/Oscar winner Tim Robbins, the troupe brings Embedded, a comedy/drama focusing on the Iraq War, to Northeastern University next weekend.

Written and directed by Robbins (who does not appear in the Boston production), Embedded concerns the build-up to the war and the events leading to the fall of Baghdad. Actors play numerous roles, including characters inspired by members of the Bush cabinet, as indicated by commedia dell’arte–style masks. Embedded had a lengthy run in Los Angeles and has also played various cities across America. At New York’s Public Theatre, where Robbins appeared in the play, it received negative reviews yet still ran for four months last year. Speaking over the phone from New York, Robbins explains that Embedded is his response to what he views as a "crisis point" in the public’s relationship with the media and the government. "There is this perception that we have a liberal or left-leaning media. If you look at the build-up of the war, it was clear to so many of us that there wasn’t enough evidence and they were rushing."

During the first Gulf War, Robbins wrote two pieces, Bob Roberts and Mayhem, but he felt that the current situation warranted its own play. "We’re all in a situation in this country where people are intimidated about speaking, and I asked, ‘Why is that? Why, if they have the Congress and the Senate and the judicial and most of the media, why would people in such positions of power fear dissent?’ The only answer was human behavior — it’s a feeling they don’t possess the truth. If you’re playing a liar and you have to hide a big lie, you attack truth. You attack anyone that threatens you. Often, the attack has nothing to do with what is said. When you have 70 percent of Bush voters still believing that al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are linked, you have either a deluded public or a serious propaganda machine. What’s amazing is that they’re still able to portray the media as left or liberal."

"A big part of our message with this show is not to trust one media source," says Anna Sommer, who plays the wife of a soldier who goes to war and a "star reporter." She and other cast members explain that rehearsals also feature discussions about current events. "We’re encouraged as the cast to find out as much as we can about who our current cabinet is," says Corey Graham Lovett, who plays Rum Rum, a gung-ho Rumsfeld stand-in, and other roles. "One thing that’s nice about the Actors’ Gang is that we do theater that matters," says Simon Anthony, who also plays multiple roles. "It’s either politically stimulating or has to do with social justice, like The Exonerated [the hit play about death-row inmates who have been proven innocent]."

Robbins has found that, despite less-than-rave reviews, the show sells on word of mouth. "There was a desire and need to see it. Whether it’s a great piece of theater or not, we didn’t know. But what we came to understand is that it was theater that people needed to see and wanted to see." After the show, the Actors’ Gang hosts talkbacks to gauge audience response. "It’s what theater should be," says Robbins, "a forum where a thought could be expressed and questions could be raised, but all in the context of a theatrical experience. It was never approached as a lecture, just as ‘Let’s tell our story here’ and maybe they’ll be angry and maybe they’ll be moved."

Embedded is presented at Blackman Theatre in Ell Hall on the Northeastern University campus, 360 Huntington Avenue in Boston, next Thursday and Friday, December 9 and 10. Tickets are $20 to $25; call (617) 373-2247, or visit www.centerforthearts.neu.edu.