‘Dos Passos Wars’ Is Good, Campy Fun
“The Hemingway/Dos Passos Wars” may not win any prizes for literary biography, but for sheer campy fun, Ben Pleasants’ melodrama of sex, socialism and the Spanish civil war is tough to beat.
Pleasants focuses on a supposed feud between Ernest Hemingway (Mike Wiles) and John Dos Passos (Steve Andrews), rival novelists who, according to the play, became sworn enemies after Hemingway tried to rationalize political killings committed by Spanish rebels during the 1930s.
The play’s historical fidelity seems more than a little suspect. Actor Kyle McCulloch depicts the great poet Wallace Stevens, for instance, as a sloppy, boorish drunk who picked fistfights with Hemingway and playwright Lillian Hellman (Carole Myers).
Yet facts may be beside the point. Against a backdrop of Key West patios, Parisian cafes and Madrid hotel rooms, Pleasants and director Paul Mackley linger on the trashier side of the characters’ personal lives, especially Hemingway’s sleazy affairs. Call it “Left Bank, 90210.”
Defying the macho, gregarious Papa of literary lore, the lanky and bearded Wiles portrays the author of “A Farewell to Arms” as a frowzy, sarcastic heel. Andrews’ effete Dos Passos makes a fitting foil, at least within the soap-opera confines of this play.
The production was reviewed in the small space at Al’s National Theater near downtown Los Angeles, but is scheduled to move this week to the Hollywood Court Theatre.
* “The Hemingway/Dos Passos Wars,” the Hollywood Court Theatre, 6817 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 7 p.m., Thursday, 8 p.m. Ends April 13. $10. (310) 476-9682 or (213) 464-3018. Running time: 2 hours.
