STAGE REVIEWS : A Fantastic Voyage Inside Lee Atwater’s Mind

While watching Robert Myers’ seductive one-man play, “Fixin’ to Die: A Visit to the Mind of Lee Atwater,” you keep wondering what Atwater would think of George Bush’s inept reelection campaign.

After all, as the most notorious mastermind behind Ronald Reagan’s 1984 and Bush’s 1988 campaigns, Atwater knew how to win by any means possible. Judging by Atwater’s record and Bruce McIntosh’s supremely garrulous, bully-boy performance at the Tamarind Theatre, he probably wouldn’t have allowed Bush to get nailed, for example, by the free-form format of the second debate.

The other question the play keeps suggesting is whether Bush would be winning if Atwater hadn’t been stricken with a brain tumor that killed him in 1991. McIntosh’s Atwater would, in his best swagger and nervy machine-gun delivery, insist that he would. But the most fascinating aspect of Myers’ play is seeing how Atwater’s fall presaged Bush’s collapse in the polls--and, perhaps, in the election.

“Fixin’ to Die” is above all the reminiscences of a naturally theatrical character, a fun-lovin’ Dixie dude equally at home in the world of delta blues (he once led his own blues band, the Upsetter’s Review) and electioneering, a chatterbox seemingly in a race with his enemies and his own mind at the same time. Atwater’s political skills were in motivating the GOP troops while waging war against opponents--his bibles were Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” His was a seductive personality with a slightly evil tinge who experienced last-minute contrition before he died--perfect for the stage.

Atwater’s marriage of tomfoolery and nefariousness gets a rich working-over by McIntosh. It’s perfectly symbolized in George Furth’s staging with a collection of cut-out, stand-up figures (Lee running with Bush, Michael Dukakis with a dart board covering his chest) that elicit chuckles until Willie Horton’s figure is carted out. Horton’s face stares down at us and Atwater, a haunting reminder of how low Atwater had ratcheted down American politics. Maybe, Myers implies, Atwater couldn’t have taken it any lower.

Then again, maybe not.

“Fixin’ to Die: A Visit to the Mind of Lee Atwater,” Tamarind Theatre, 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Fridays, 8 p.m. Ends Nov. 28. $15; (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.