A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God (Whoever Reads This First)

Edinburgh Fringe – The Space

Xhloe and Natasha have achieved a kind of legendary status;  they are remarkable performers and writers who create such curious and dynamic storylines and relationships within their theatre pieces, combining elements of clowning, physical theater in order to explore broader themes, building and improving on the strength of their previous shows.  Their latest work A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God (Whoever Reads This First) is no different, as with this show they break their own record of imaginative storytelling yet again.

What starts as a chance meeting in a Boy Scouts summer camp, turns to a ride-or-die friendship as we travel with Ace and Grasshopper from their games in the  woods into the Vietnamese jungle, where the lines between playing ‘the good guys’ and being soldiers blur, as real-life and make-believe become twisted into one to the point where we can’t tell the difference ourselves.

Throughout its narrative, this show explores American culture and masculinity through the lens of war, the military, patriotism and religion, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War; a turning point in American social and political consciousness at home and abroad. They play on these tenets of American masculinity, a kind of prescription as a gateway to larger indoctrination, building it up until it becomes this overarching and overwhelming entity, that whilst creating this bubble for the characters, signposts how much of a house of cards it actually is.  And in exploring these issues in the past, this show speaks to  larger observations and parallels in the present indicating that not much has changed. The pair pack so much meaning in just about everything. Even just the backgrounds and the development of the relationship between Ace and Grasshopper is indicative of this overarching concept of faith in the United States; the political system (LBJ) or religion (God). 

“Truly a culmination of their inherent talent.”

Natasha and Xhloe are phenomenal; they play on the unknown and the fact that we don’t necessarily always understand what’s going on. They don’t spell everything out, but they give us enough to catch up.  They manage to involve us to the point where this show becomes a little heart-breaking and shocking ; the characters don’t change, we don’t see them grow up, they still have this kind of innocence in the face of their experiences, holding onto this faith in being ‘the good guys,’  but the only thing that changes is the reality of the game they’re playing. And after all this kind of low-stakes hyperactivity, seeing the same characters but in a high-stakes situation instead does put us on edge, even though the narrative development from one situation to another is relatively imperceptible.  The pair give award-winning performances in their respective roles with how they have built these characters, this world that they make us a part of. We really feel like we’re in it with them. Apart from their acting that is able to evoke an unbelievable amount of pathos,  Natasha and Xhloe create these really amazing moments of physical theatre, the intensity of which works in tandem with the lighting and sound design to create these stark images that are over only too soon. 

A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God (Whoever Reads This First) is truly a culmination of their inherent talent. This show is an intense critique of American social values, culture and the effects that this indoctrination of these institutions can have. It’s always a joy (and a bit of a thought-experiment) to see one of Xhloe and Natasha’s performances.

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz