Live Play in 10 acts, streaming live.

June 24, 2019 6:36 PM

Happening right now, live: The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in 10 Acts. A cast that includes Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, Michael Shannon, Jason Alexander and many more as they perform The Mueller Report.
posted by dobbs (13 comments total)

my initial response to this, which may be unfair, is that it's... hard to imagine a goofier misapplication of artistic talent to the needs of the present moment
posted by Kybard at 6:50 PM on June 24, 2019 [16 favorites]

It does feel a little goofy to hear but it's a symptom of the human need to tell the other humans what the problem is so that we can address it. We all can't believe that all of this is known and nothing is being done. We all want to say it and hear it.
posted by bleep at 7:12 PM on June 24, 2019 [3 favorites]

These are the people who want to go back to the way things were in 2015 when the immigration detention facilities were very definitely in operation but they didn't know about them.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:16 PM on June 24, 2019 [14 favorites]

Is this what's known as a self-own?
posted by Beardman at 7:52 PM on June 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

thank you thespians. surely this

(wait is it in esperanto?)
posted by Auden at 8:06 PM on June 24, 2019

That was good. And Lithgow's hammy delivery was perfect.

I already read the thing, and it's just as compelling in the original (especially the second volume) despite the endless footnotes and the redactions.
posted by Peach at 8:17 PM on June 24, 2019

It's a bit like jerking off while arranging deck chairs of the USS Democracy
posted by growabrain at 9:06 PM on June 24, 2019 [10 favorites]

I kind of love it.
posted by suelac at 9:51 PM on June 24, 2019 [1 favorite]

So familiar.
posted by xtian at 3:14 AM on June 25, 2019

That was good. And Lithgow's hammy delivery was perfect.

Of course it was perfect... he is the High Commander, after all.

And Oh. My. GAWD! He's GORGEOUS!
posted by zaixfeep at 7:21 AM on June 25, 2019

I peeked at this last night, thinking I'd watch maybe 5 minutes, and made it 40 minutes in before I had to pause and bookmark for later. I did not expect this to be so compelling, but it really is. That's pretty high praise for what's essentially just a bunch of people reading aloud.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:29 AM on June 25, 2019

The universe somehow, and without my efforts, managed to gift me a ticket to see this in person - its really fucking good and god dammit WHERE THE HELL IS DON MCGAHNS PUBLIC TESTIMONY.


I could have done w less laughing at Joel Gray's foghorn leghorned Jeff Sessions, and im confused about it as a publicity stunt that didnt do fuck all to self promote (there was no mention of hashtagging or sharing our experiences in person but there were some serious law/media folks in the room).

It could probably be condensed down to 60 minutes and performed on college campuses/in public squares everywhere - it takes advantage of the dramatic qualities of Muellers writing beautifully to make a super compelling case.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:00 AM on June 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also, this isn't intentionally an homage to another, rather more famous play called "The Investigation" that consisted entirely of court testimony? Because, please let it not be....
posted by Beardman at 9:17 AM on June 25, 2019