Political Theatre Comes in All Shapes and Sizes

The other day I found myself looking up various definitions of the word "craven" and learned that:

• Cravenness is mean-spirited cowardice.
• A craven man is no Superman or Spider-Man, nor is he a firefighter or a soldier. A craven man is the opposite of those guys: he has not an ounce of courage.
• In The Wizard of Oz the Cowardly Lion could have been called the Cravenly Lion, but that didn't sound quite right. Use craven as you would cowardly.
• A craven leader is scared to lead, while a craven gymnast stays on the mat and avoids the balance beam.
• You can also use the word to describe other things, besides humans. Craven policies, for example, are probably weak and do not take bold measures.

With the commencement of impeachment hearings, December has brought a wealth of comical and cynical memes floating across the Internet (I also recommend reading "Everybody’s Weekend Meals Ruined After Being Told Donald Trump’s Turds Are All Floaters" and "The Turds of a Turd, and Other Most Unpleasant News"). The most laughable memes have been inspired by flailing attempts at distraction by the nation's biggest media whore (who, among other well-earned nicknames, is often referred to as Fuckface von Clownstick and the Orange Shitgibbon).




In theatre, film, and literature, a writer's goal is often to make his audience suspend their sense of disbelief in order to be taken on a fictional journey. As I've been working my way through a series of kinky M/M stories by such authors as M. Stonehouse, Alex van Wylde, Kim Alan, Quin Perin, Lex Valon, Darryl Banner, Jason Collins, and Sean Reid Scott, recurrent themes of dominance, submission, and muscle worship are told with varying degrees of subtlety, brutality, irony, and humor.

What becomes obvious in many fictional narratives (e.g. straight college jock is manipulated into becoming some gay nerd's sex slave), the grooming process usually focuses on a target who is not yet aware of his deep-seated thirst for humiliation or in denial about a submissive streak which makes him want to relinquish control to an authority figure. Despite his bravado and macho swagger, the target's mindset may be far more pliable than he imagines. Nevertheless, a sadistic predator (or predatory sadist) can often detect a target's vulnerability like a shark smells blood in the water.

As I thought about the many ways in which the targeting and grooming of a submissive person resembles the methodology by which Donald Trump has reshaped and cowed the Republican Party, I came across some powerful quotes from British blogger Emmeline May, whose tweets stressed the following points in response to a 2017 article about Harvey Weinstein:

• We all understand that grooming takes place, but many of us misunderstand the scale to which it happens.
• Sometimes you only need to be kind, funny, charming. It’s easy to hear the word "grooming" and assume that you’re talking about older men talking to children online. But there is, in fact, much more to the issue of grooming. What is not well understood is how sexual predators don’t just groom victims. They groom everyone around them that they need as supporters. They groom their friends, their family, even their co-workers, all to make everyone around them supporters of what they’re doing.
• The grooming behavior can take many different forms, but all have the same aim; to get people to like you/support you. Or find you credible. You only have to be just credible enough if victims you select have less power than you. Sometimes it takes money, gifts, rewards, promises of shared power. Even threats ("I made u, I can break u. Haha jokes, come to my yacht").
• It means they can get away with their crimes because "Jim? Nah, he's solid! He's funny! He bought me a car! He's a great guy! So generous!" That great guy who's so funny, cool, and generous but there are all these rumors and most of your female friends avoid him? Maybe look again.
• Grooming isn't just a thing adult perps do to child victims. It's behavior seen in sexual predators to those around them, too. It's now recognized in social care arenas that grooming of peers and not just victims happens in order to hide abuse of vulnerable people. It's recognized to the extent that there are training courses on how to spot it and identifying among professionals if these behaviors are in play.
• It's worth remembering that we're as susceptible to being groomed as enablers as we are as victims and to try to see it when it happens.

Most astonishing was the video of a nearly 30-year-old interview with former Soviet journalist and KGB informant Yuri Bezmenov who (prior to defecting to Canada in February 1970) specialized in Marxist-Leninist propaganda and ideological subversion. Keeping in mind that Vladimir Putin joined the KGB in 1975, Bezmenov's description of how the Kremlin's propaganda machine functions offers surprising insights into (a) why Donald Trump seems so eager to help Putin achieve his political goals, and (b) how the Republican Party and its followers have been brainwashed to favor Russia's interests over those of the United States.

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While the above video outline's Russia's long-term game plan for achieving its international goals, political theatre can also be a source of great hilarity. During December, TheatreFIRST is presenting "Josh-A-Palooza: A Festival of Josh Kornbluth's Films and Monologues" down at the Waterfront Playhouse and Conservatory in Berkeley. In addition to screenings of Haiku Tunnel, Love and Taxes, and The Mathematics of Change, Kornbluth will be performing Ben Franklin: Unplugged, Love and Taxes, and Citizen Josh.


A master storyteller who quivers with delight at the mere thought of being caught and punished for trivial pursuits, Kornbluth epitomizes the classic, anxiety-ridden Jewish clown. Whereas Woody Allen seduced legions of fans with his characterization of a stuttering schlemiel. Kornbluth has chosen to polish his comedic shtick in the form of a hopeless schlub, a confused and often frightened manchild whose parents were Communists.

Throughout the two decades that Josh Kornbluth has been writing and performing monologues he has developed a devoted following that admires his intellect, embraces his lovable stage persona, and simply can't get enough of his work. During the two years that he hosted an interview show for KQED, he displayed a rare gift for combining the geekiness of genuine fandom with the ability to seek out truly interesting subjects and talk shop with them. In the following video, Kornbluth explains his artistic process and how he was inspired to create a monologue about Ben Franklin.


Kornbluth readily admits that, by the time Ben Franklin: Unplugged premiered in 1998, it had gone through a long and intense period of development. Berkeley Rep's artistic director, Tony Taccone, had recommended that Josh work with David Dower on the project. As Kornbluth recalls:

"David gently and skillfully 'allowed' me to discover that I need not (and probably should not) do Hal Holbrook-type shows, but instead could expand my own autobiographical accounts to include political, social, and historical issues of enormous interest to me and, we hoped, to audiences as well. Ultimately, we were both thrilled at how it turned out: a story that was, yes, partly about me and my sometimes neurotic concerns, but also about that fascinating, tortured relationship between Ben and William [Franklin] and, ultimately, about how I, a third-generation American Jew, could feel so intensely connected to the celebrated seventh son of soap-making Puritans.

"There is a first-generation American Jew who figures strongly in the story as well: Claude-Anne Lopez, a brilliant Franklinista. After being dazzled by her masterpiece, the book Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris, I sought out this charming Belgian émigré (who barely escaped the Nazis) when passing through New Haven on tour. She lived near Yale, where she had worked for many years at the Benjamin Franklin Papers. Little did either of us know at the time that she would become a key figure in my new show: my charming (and much prettier) Yoda-type guide to the wonders of the Franklin archives."

Fortunately, I was able to attend one of Kornbluth's live performances of Ben Franklin: Unplugged in Berkeley. As always, I was utterly charmed by his writing, his delivery, and his adorable way of interacting with an audience during those moments when he lost his place and needed a cue for the next line. If you wish to listen the audiobook of Ben Franklin, Unplugged you can order it from Amazon by clicking here.