'Born Yesterday' great comic play for today

There's dumb. And then there's dumb like a fox. In a nutshell, that's the arc Billie Dawn takes in "Born Yesterday."

She's the former, and then, through reading and thinking, transforms into the latter.

And what a highly entertaining journey it is to watch.

This classic American comedy plays at the Florida Repertory Theatre through Nov. 16, and although it was penned more than 60 years ago, it couldn't be more timely.

The story line: a greedy junkyard tycoon, Harry Brock (Jimmy Clarke) goes to Washington D.C. to bribe a senator (Bruce Somerville). He has a lawyer on his payroll (a meek, acquiescent Chris Clavelli) who does his bidding, finding and creating legal — and not-so-legal — loopholes that allow Brock to do his dirty work and get away with it. In Brock's entourage is his cousin Eddie (Scott Bennett) and his mistress, Billie Dawn (Deanna Gibson).

A loudmouth blowhard cut from rough cloth, Brock bullies his way through life. Clarke plays him at full-volume, a brute who doesn't think but acts purely on instinct. If you didn't know any better, you'd think this guy was on steroids.

Deanna Gibson plays Billie Dawn in Florida Repertory's "Born Yesterday." But while in DC, Brock begins to feel that Billie, a former chorus girl who chews gum with her mouth open, needs some polishing, some education.

Or, as he puts it, "She just don't fit in. Every time she opened her kisser, something wrong came out."

Brock, of course, is totally uncouth himself, but lacks self-awareness. His hamfisted attempts at gentility and small talk fail miserably. Yet, he feels his mistress's actions are a liability.

Brock's solution: hire Paul (Brendan Powers), a journalist, to educate Billie and teach her about politics, current events and culture. He, of course, falls for her. Powers plays the good guy role with a charming mixture of awkwardness and earnestness. Not only does Billie fall in love with him, but the audience does too. Powers has the ability to deliver lines such as, "When you steal from the government, you steal from yourself," without sounding sappy. And his pro-democracy speeches come across as genuine, not jingoistic.

Carrie Lund portrays the senator's wife; snooty, elite and la-ti-dah, she's not quite sure how to react to these rough people with no manners. Though her time on stage is limited in this production, Lund demonstrates the adage that there are no small roles. She makes the most of this one, with her physical humor complementing her lines, portraying a woman who's simultaneously genteel and jumpy.

Roberta Malcolm's costume designs also assist here: Lund, in furs and pearls, wears a tiny maroon pillbox hat on top of her upswept hair, the cherry that accents the sundae.

But it is Billie who makes this show what it is. With all the testosterone strutting about on stage, Ms. Gibson more than holds her own. In fact, she pretty much runs away with the show. At first, she seems almost incidental, as Brock bellows and bullies his way around the hotel suite. But then, she becomes the character you keep looking for on stage, the one you're rooting for.

Ms. Gibson's Billie Dawn is goofy and endearing, a fully realized character. Lesser actors would've just gone for the easy laughs, but Ms. Gibson gives us someone who isn't a caricature but a woman with feelings, longings. She displays her vulnerability when reading opens up new worlds, new options, and she declares, "There's a better kind of life than the one I've got."

Ms. Gibson's performance is the perfect marriage of spoken humor and physical humor. Her speaking voice alone is a complex musical melody composed of fowl-like squawks and squeaks and occasional low dulcet tones.

And the classic card-playing scene at the end of Act I, where Brock and Billie play gin rummy, is in itself a class in how to do comedy. The two are a delightful duet of tics, mannerisms and quirks as they play cards.

With its four chandeliers, marble molding, and simple but lush furniture, Sean McClelland's hotel suite set is perfect; it doesn't scream "rich" but simply states it in well-modulated tones.

Audiences should note the sly inclusion of "Attempting the Impossible" by surrealist Renee Magritte on stage during Act II with its image of a suited man painting a nude woman. He's not painting her on canvas, he's actually creating her in thin air, a robust woman standing in front of him, almost completed. It's the perfect visual metaphor for this play in which Billie Dawn transforms, Pygmalionlike, into someone greater and more complex than who she was initially.

Director Robert Cacioppo and Florida Rep have given us a great gift with this play: A reminder of all that's great about America, and a mirror of how corrupt and underhanded our government can be, when laws are manipulated or ignored for personal gain. (As the senator declares at one point, "Are the people going to run the government or is the government going to run the people," implying, of course, that it should be the latter.)

Sadly, Garson Kanin's "Born Yesterday" is still relevant for today. We're still dealing with corrupt politicians, war profiteering, special interest groups pulling strings in Washington and big business taking precedent over the people. It seems that some things never change.

And, like any classic play, it works on so many different levels: a story of personal transformation, the battle of the sexes, the power of education, democracy vs. corruption. It's a play that delivers that most potent of combinations: it makes us laugh while also making us think. As Powers's character says, "The idea of learning is to be bigger, not smaller."

As we head into the final days of an extremely heated presidential election, you could do worse than take political advice from a play written over half a century ago. It warns against "the curse of…don't care-ism" and suggests that you listen to what the candidates have to say and "take a look and see who's for who. Who's on the other side and who's on your side." Then vote.

Besides being a fun night at the theater, "Born Yesterday" is a reminder of the ideals upon which our country was founded, and what it can once again be.

If you go

>>What: Born Yesterday

>>When: through Nov. 16

>>Where: The Florida Repertory Theatre, 2267 First Street, between Hendry and Jackson, in the historic Arcade Theatre in downtown Fort Myers

>>Cost: $38 and $34

>>Info: Call 332-4488 or go to www.FloridaRep.org