By Ernest Kearney — There have been a number of shows at Hollywood Fringe Festival ‘19 which I have felt were dismissible as Twilight Zone riffs or Stephen King mash-ups. There have also been a number of productions attempting to present political allegories on the current state of this nation, most of which I have felt were less than successful.
The Mayor’s Debate of Tranquility, Nebraska while both a Twilight Zone doppelganger and political parable is certainly the cream that rises to the top.
We start off with a mayoral debate presented on the local airways. Hosted by a dim news personality, (Emily Dorsett is delightful, coming off like Sean Hannity in drag – though far more attractive).
The three candidates involved represent a standard microcosm of the American political spectrum: the uber-liberal, in a same sex union who advocates votes for babies (Katie Streeter), the Libertarian-slash-Tea Party gink who feels that the best political system is found in the vacuum of deep, deep space (Lucie Beeby) and the smiling, slimy incumbent snollygoster, the type who will do anything to achieve ascendancy (Jim Hanna).
The debate goes from glad-handing to backstabbing with gleeful alacrity. If Hanna, who wrote the script, had limited his piece to silliness and witty barbs, The Mayor’s Debate of Tranquility, Nebraska would have been an amusing little ditty. It is his introduction of Rod Sterling’s “cornfield” and Stephen King’s “mist” that brings a sinister element of political satire that ups the ante on stage and lifts this production above the commonplace.
The real debate here is not so much focused on the limits of political correctness but rather the necessity of rage in a society that has seemingly shattered all its traditional boundaries. In bringing Fringe audiences into this debate, 
Hanna and crew have provided laughs with the bitterest of aftertaste and a chilling moral: Behind the mockery lurks the monster.
A GOLD MEDAL.
The Mayor’s Debate of Tranquility, Nebraska
playing during The Fringe at
the Complex Hollywood
6472 Santa Monica Blvd.
For Complete Show Information: http://hff19.org/5945
For Events, Plays and Other Fun Fringe News and Info: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/
