別のRFK劇
昨年、ロサンゼルスで上演され、後にニューヨークでも上演された劇“Good Bobby”。
この劇でRFKを演じた Brian Lee Franklin が脚本も書いています。こちらは一人芝居ではなく、キャストは全部で9人。
幕開けは、「マクレラン委員会」におけるホッファとボビーの対決です。
ブライアン・リー・フランクリンはnytheatre.com review（下に貼り付けてある劇評の三つめ）で
As RFK, playwright Brian Lee Franklin has an uncanny resemblance to the late Senator, an easy grace.
と評されております。よほど似てたらしいですね。外見だけでなく、しゃべり方もかなり似てたらしいですし。
劇評として：
At 59E59 Theaters, Robert Kennedy’s Political Life - The New York Times
http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=good8726
それぞれLA（一番目）とニューヨークでの劇評（二・三番目）です。
LAの方は脚本を絶賛してますね。ニューヨーク・タイムズはそうでもないですが。（NYタイムズが何かを絶賛することってあるのかしら。）太字は私が強調したところです。ちょっと面白いと感じたので。
The greatest accomplishment of this piece of work is inarguably the script. Brian Lee Franklin so masterfully documents this delicate time in history with just enough tenacity. Beyond the history, however, he truly explores every dimension of Robert Kennedy, interpreting him as an underrated and immensely sensitive boy so isolated from the legacies of his older brothers Joe Jr. and John. Franklin vividly paints the hierarchy and competitive vigor of the Kennedy brothers, a reality he shows as a potential catalyst for Bobby surrendering his sensitivities to the ruthless political games and social dominance of the Kennedy men. He marks Bobby as a morally true but torn man, not without imperfections. This humanization of a seemingly flawless icon is what makes Robert Kennedy all the more heroic in the eyes of this piece.
主演のフランクリンの演技は称賛されています。
Brian Lee Franklin as Kennedy is graceful, sophisticated, and sensitive. He looks like Kennedy and adapts many of his physical traits including the unique accent. A consistent stutter, however, seemed to place much of the dialogue in repetitive rhythms, sometimes overpowering the words underneath. While it certainly had its place in the personification of Kennedy it seemed a bit distracting at times.
While Mr. Franklin the playwright would have benefited from choosing just a few events to explore in more depth, Mr. Franklin the actor makes the most of what he’s given.
ホッファとの関連で興味深かったのは、以下の箇所。（これはロサンゼルスの劇評から）。
Furthermore, many of the scenes were flawlessly infused with history without losing the poignancy of the men behind the history. One prime example of this includes a scene between Kennedy( Brian Lee Franklin) and James Hoffa( R.D. Call) relatively soon after the death of John. In this scene, Hoffa delivers a monologue to Kennedy in which he justifies the actions of his racketeering as protection for the workingmen that have shaped the backbone of The United States. He accuses Kennedy of a spoiled childhood and avers that the Kennedys have tainted the political soil of American history. It is this scene that then motivates Bobby to run for the Senate, and to consequently find his own voice in politics for the first time in his life. It’s a stunning inference based on history and one of many instances where Brian Lee Franklin goes beyond the pages of history in defining Bobby Kennedy
もうひとつは、nytheatre.com reviewから。太字は、私が強調した箇所です。興味深いと感じた部分であります。
As the teamster president Jimmy Hoffa, Dan Lauria is a powerhouse. Big and tough, with a steely gaze and strong build, he exudes raw power. Human, personable, even funny, Lauria's show-stopping second scene with RFK is breathtaking. Although ruthless and frightening, Hoffa champions the workingman (and woman) struggling to feed and care for their families, contrasting privileged Kennedy who never had to work a day in his life, never had to worry about paying for health insurance or having enough food to go around the family dinner table. "Everything you have was given to you, everything I have I took." The scene humanizes Hoffa, shows he's fighting for the people too, and shakes RFK to his core. This encounter with Hoffa seems to give RFK the strength to reawaken the person he began as—not the elitist spoiled politico, but the sensitive and strong man of the people he was on the inside all along.
This is where RFK begins to grow into the man we all have idealized; sadly this is the end of the play.
もっとも、記事後半全体を読めば分りますように、この批評を書いた人はRFKよりもホッファに強い印象を受けておりますが。
ううむ、数年後に『RFK』みたいに脚本が手に入るといいな。読んでみたいものです。
劇評を読んでいても感じるのは、なぜ多くの人がボビーに魅力を覚えるかというと、ボビーが自分自身になっていくためにもがき苦しんだからであり、その苦しみを通して彼が確実に成長し、自分の声をみつけて自分自身になっていったからだということでした。
私自身がRFKに惹かれている理由の一つを再確認したように思います。
