Babbitt, the “Best of the Nationally Advertised” Shows – Now With Matthew Broderick at Shakespeare Theatre!

Reading is fundamental, but sometimes it takes staging for a story to transform from merely impressionable to illuminating. That’s what Matthew Broderick — and Joe Dipietro in adapting Sinclair Lewis’s novel — has succeeded in doing with Babbitt, now at Shakespeare Theatre.

Babbitt, written by Lewis right here in DC in 1922, wasn’t overlooked 100 years ago. In fact, it was hailed as a masterpiece even in its time, heralded for chronicling America’s internal division. But I’ll admit the classic work was — for me — a challenging read, not because of its substance, but its style. Through this modern staging, though, it’s an easy and entertaining satire that should draw audiences for its contemporary resonance alone. And Broderick’s performance puts it over the top!

In brief: George Babbitt, the titular character, is thoroughly stuck in middle-class suburban life, and while he may have the “American Dream” as many might define it, he is unsatisfied and strives for exceptionalism. He has a knack for public speech, generally just saying what people want to hear, and then he believes whatever it is that he is saying. Like many politicians, he changes his position with “new information,” but as he searches for identity, he’s continuously at odds with one aspect or another of society.

Broderick manages this malleability with skillful — almost scary — accuracy. He embodies Babbitt as a ‘little’ common man, with the middle-American accent of the era and all, so well that at times that the irony of the story sneaks up on you and hits in full force. And he’s funny, too!

STC audiences will find that, a century after Babbitt was written, we are living in a similar time. Politicians are… politicians, and the fragmentation of society is rampant. This is America; it’s incendiary and often absurd. Progressive ideas may be advocacy or indoctrination. Consumerism and patriotism may be lauded or vilified.

DiPietro’s (and Broderick’s) Babbitt gives all of this a modern perspective with a side of delightful diversion that’s 110% worth the price of admission.

Babbitt is on stage through Nov. 3. Runtime: With one 15-minute intermission, the show is approximately two hours and ten minutes. Tickets available here.