Laura Bush Killed a Guy

[nmlhats]

I recently saw this one-woman show downtown at the Flea, and it is only playing through this weekend (8 July). Highly recommended.....funny, bizarre, tasteless, moving, endearing...a little bit of everything. Lisa Hodsoll is great and originated themrole in DC. Plus, fresh-baked cookies! I live in Dallas and wish someone would do it or bring it here so all my theater fan friends could see it. We are a blue city and a blue county in a sea of red, but pretty much everyone likes Laura Bush. I think she may have enough of a sense of humor to not be freaked out by it. 

[LightsOut90]

seeing it Saturday

[Solipsist234]

Y'all, I got really scared! But it's only a play... :'D

[kdogg36]

I don't know anything about the play but yes, she did (accidentally) kill a guy.

[theatregoer3]

To be clear: she really killed a guy in real life. This is a fact.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Also saw this and really enjoyed it. Keep your eyes on the playwright, Ian Allen.

The play gets its title from its first line: “If you type Laura Bush into Google, the first suggestion you get is ‘cowboy cookies.’ The second suggestion is ‘killed a guy’. “

The New York Times review was very positive:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/theater/laura-bush-killed-a-guy-review.html

[John Adams]

"To be clear: she really killed a guy in real life. This is a fact."

...and

"I don't know anything about the play but yes, she did (accidentally) kill a guy."

Yes and Yes. But so did Matthew Broderick, Brandy, Ted Kennedy, Rebecca Gayheart, and others.

It's not an irrelevant fact, but neither is it the focus. From the Times review cited above: But then deep down “Laura Bush Killed a Guy” is not a political satire but a romantic comedy about mutual redemption: “I’m the girl that sadness made,” Mrs. Bush concludes. “And then there’s George.”

[Miles2Go2]

I either didn’t know about Rebecca Gayheart or Matthew Broderick. Wow!

[RaisedOnMusicals]

By the way, even though the play is, more or less, a "romantic comedy", it raises a serious question that it does not necessarily answer, which was how did Laura Bush get off scot free when she blew right through a stop sign while drunk as a skunk and killed a HS classmate who may or may not have been her boyfriend?

[John Adams]

RaisedOnMusicals said: "By the way, even though the play is, more or less, a "romantic comedy", it raises a serious question that it does not necessarily answer, which was how did Laura Bush get off scot free when she blew right through a stop sign while drunk as a skunk and killed a HS classmate who may or may not have been her boyfriend?"

I understand your curiosity (and perhaps anger?). But again, not really relevant in regards to the show.

It doesn't make things better to know, and it certainly doesn't impart any sense of justice, but Mrs. Bush is not unique regarding her circumstances, and it would be incorrect to believe that she received 'special treatment' that was unparalleled. At the time, she was not a celebrity - she was an ordinary teenager, like any other unknown, ordinary person.

I found an excerpt from the New York Times review of her book, “Spoken From the Heart” to be enlightening. (see: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/books/28laura.html) Start at Paragraph 9...

After reading her words, and as an actor, try to place yourself into her 17-year-old self. Does that make any difference for you in how you view the circumstance? (Just curious...) 

 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

John Adams said: "RaisedOnMusicals said: "By the way, even though the play is, more or less, a "romantic comedy", it raises a serious question that it does not necessarily answer, which was how did Laura Bush get off scot free when she blew right through a stop sign while drunk as a skunk and killed a HS classmate who may or may not have been her boyfriend?"

I understand your curiosity (and perhaps anger?). But again, not really relevant in regards to the show.

It doesn'tmake things better to know, and it certainly doesn't impart any sense of justice, but Mrs. Bush is not unique regarding her circumstances, and it would be incorrect to believe that she received 'special treatment' that was unparalleled. At the time, she was not a celebrity - she was an ordinary teenager, like any other unknown, ordinary person.

I found anexcerpt from the New York Times review ofher book,“Spoken From the Heart” to be enlightening. (see:https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/books/28laura.html) Startat Paragraph 9...

After reading her words, and as an actor, try to place yourself into her 17-year-old self. Does that make any difference for you in how you view the circumstance? (Just curious.

I think if you had seen the play your response to my post would have been markedly different. Trust me, there’s no anger at all and I wish you knew how deliciously ironic that suggestion was  

 

 

[John Adams]

RaisedOnMusicals said: "I think if you had seen the play your response to my post would have been markedly different. Trust me, there’s no anger at all and I wish you knew how deliciously ironic that suggestion was "

Well, of course, I'm intrigued!!!  Can you post here without spoilers? If not, please feel free to PM me. 

IF (and I capitalized that intentionally) the play is truly about "mutual redemption", then it seems to me that the incident is a catalyst - not about a singular person seeking redemption for a specific incident, but about how specific circumstances create an environment for something new and different to emerge.

But I take your point. You're right - I haven't seen the play, and it seems unlikely that I will have the means to do so. 

So... You're my touchstone at this point. Educate me! 

 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

I PM’d you.