Political grass roots run wild on Maskers’ stage> Belfast troupe tells story of president and inventors

When it comes to the drama of politics, you won’t find anything more grass roots than Mark St. Germain’s play “Camping With Henry & Tom,” which opened last weekend at the Belfast Maskers Railroad Theater. It imagines auto maker Henry Ford, inventor Thomas Edison, and 29th president of the United States Warren G. Harding on an outing in July of 1921. While traveling in Ford’s model T, they hit a deer and go off the road. They’re literally so stuck in grass roots, not even the Secret Service can find them.

Their mishap disarms them of their public personas — as mishaps will — and they get down to the bare bones of their politics. Ford reveals his desire to seek the presidency in true folk-hero fashion. Harding confesses to a scandalous private life behind a platform of conservatism. Edison, dismayed by the abuses of the patent office, is little affected by the admissions and prefers to read a book.

As the men converse, argue and chide each other around a small campfire, the injured deer dies a slow death in the background. It is an apt symbol of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial America, in which these three men were major figures. Every man may be a government within himself, as Emerson said, but it sure helps if he’s a business man, too.

The overwhelming message of this show, winner of Best Off-Broadway play in 1995, is that little has changed in politics in 70 or so years. Probably the Secret Service is better equipped to track its clients, but theatergoers will see many connections between the characters onstage and the characters in the current election year.

St. Germain’s script is well-crafted — funny, upsetting, insightful — and guest director Christopher D. Bates shapes it into a production that has entertainment value and memorable performances. Bates’ primary interest is in staging contemporary plays with an emphasis on solid pacing. He accomplishes this with “Camping,” and the show is a reinforcement of the admirable goals artistic director Gardner Howes has set for the theater in general.

All three actors in the primary roles bring something notable to the production. In a fourth walk-on role as a Secret Service guard, Michael Fletcher is intensely serious, and his character appropriately stands apart from the others in this regard.

Brian Ross as Ford brims with the restlessness of a man who has honest-to-God ideas and the spunk to make them work. He’s as wiry as Ross Perot, and as shifty as a Shylock.

A combination of tough-guy swagger and sweet-guy vulnerability makes Richard Brucher’s portrayal of Harding enjoyable and sympathetic. As his best, Brucher can deliver a line with immense wryness, and he looks the part of Harding, an able public speaker with an impressive manner.

Phil Price as Edison is the real professional here, however. Price is a rare bird, a true actor whose sophistication captivates and brings the show to a higher level of drama and illumination. He is forever in the moment, listening to each word and responding to it with well-honed spontaneity.

Peter Stewart’s set is a creepy woods scene with lots of dirt, real and fake trees, and rocks. The dead deer never makes an entrance, but its presence is known through rustling trees. Sharon Teel dresses the men in top-notch suits, and Greg Marsanskis puts plenty of mood into his lighting design. Props person Charlotte Herbold deserves a small round of applause for finding an amazingly well-preserved phonograph with a speaker painted in the design of a morning glory.

“Camping With Henry & Tom” will be presented 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday through July 28 at the Belfast Maskers Railroad Theater. For ticket information call 338-9668.