The movie's out, but this was a play first, and should be seen that way. In a November 17, 2008 appearance on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” David Frost reminisced about his insightful interviews with former president Richard Nixon that unfolded as a television event watched by millions, ultimately unmasking the man at the center of Watergate. The four 90-minute taped segments (that David Frost largely financed himself) were aired on Frost’s program, “Frost On America,” whose previous guests included Tennessee Williams and Jack Benny. The interviews took place over a 12-day period in 1977 and totaled 28 ¾ hours, two days of which were devoted exclusively to the Watergate scandal.
These very powerful and intimate tête-à-têtes are the basis of Peter Morgan’s play, Frost/Nixon, an in-depth examination of Nixon and Frost’s conversations that evolved into a war of wits between two equally pugnacious adversaries. Nixon embodied the systemic abuse of the public trust when he left office and he and his advisers believed that these interviews with Frost would rehabilitate his reputation.
In his chat with Jon Stewart, David Frost said that Nixon wasn’t very good at small talk and was often nervous before taping, while cool as a cucumber on camera (generally the opposite of how most people react when televised). When Nixon signed the contract for the television interviews, Frost – in the hopes of breaking the ice and easing the tension – mentioned to Nixon a newspaper report he had read that day about Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982 and former President. Nixon responded by saying, “I wouldn’t want to be a Russian leader – they never know when they’re being taped.”
Witness two intelligent, complicated, quick-witted transformational historical figures in Caldwell’s Frost/Nixon. America’s collective past was rewritten with Nixon’s evasions, admissions and Frost’s perseverance.
January 4 - February 8
CALDWELL THEATRE COMPANY
7901 N. Federal Highway
Boca Raton
(561) 241-7432
Directions
Tickets $36-$42
Not available online
The New York Times review
David Frost on Wikipedia
Peter Morgan talks about the play
