U.S. VS. A Beatle; Play Chronicles FBI Probe of Lennon

Mar 30, 01:57 PM

Current Headlines: By JACKIE LOOHAUIS

Revolutionary. Househusband. Political mastermind. Babe in the woods.

John Lennon wore a lot of labels other than the one that said "Beatle." "The Smart One" of the Fab Four claimed to have outgrown his legendary band long before it broke up. So in the late 1960s, he replaced George, Paul and Ringo with new friends: George McGovern, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and a host of other activists. Lennon's new label of Vietnam War protester brought him a different kind of fame. Or, as some said, infamy.

Among those who disliked Lennon's new friends were people who worked in the White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And it's the Lennon-FBI connection that takes the spotlight in Next Act Theatre's new production of "Ears on a Beatle," which opens tonight at the Off-Broadway Theatre.

The Marc St. Germain play takes place during strange days indeed. It's the early 1970s in New York City when "Ears" joins two FBI agents - Hugh, the tough vet, and Dan, the novice - on a unique assignment. They are trailing John Lennon because President Nixon and FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover view him to be a dangerous dissident.

The bureau hopes the two agents will find enough dirt on Lennon to have him deported. But along the way, the FBI partners also find themselves, by sparring, sharing memories and even exchanging roles. The pair's unlikely story gets told against a backdrop of more than 200 historic images projected on a screen. Lennon's character never appears live.

Although "Ears" may evoke memories of another stalker who did get Lennon, the play is described as a comedy-drama.

"Don't forget the comedy. Comedy! If you heard the laughs in the play! They're sprinkled liberally throughout," said director Jonathan Smoots.

But this is also serious stuff. The release of FBI files under the Freedom of Information Act showed the extent of the agency's surveillance of Lennon. The act has served as a blacklight exposing some of the darkest corners of the Nixon administration's actions during the Vietnam War protest era, at a time when the voting age had just been lowered to 18.

A threat, or a symbol?

"The FBI had for decades been concerned about the influence of pop culture," said Athan Theoharis, professor emeritus of history at Marquette University, authority on the FBI and author of "Chasing Spies: How the FBI Failed in Counterintelligence But Promoted the Politics of McCarthyism in the Cold War." "So you come to Lennon during this very tumultuous time when the Nixon administration is concerned about the anti-war movement."

So was Lennon really a danger to the establishment?

"My impression is that he wasn't at all dangerous," Smoots said. "He believed in non-violence. He didn't want to see violence happen. Our play says he was a danger to the Nixon administration because suddenly there were 40 million new voters who would vote any way he told them to vote."

Still, the story is multilayered. Other sound bites from the time argue for a less saintly Beatle. Lennon made such offhand remarks as "I'm with the IRA," and Nick Redfern's "Celebrity Secrets: Official Government Files on the Rich and Famous" suggests he may have donated funds to that militia. The recent documentary, "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" by Milwaukee native John Scheinfeld includes footage of Lennon yelling: "Viva la Revolucion!"

A look at different Lennons

But there are other Lennons, too.

There's Lennon the Artless Innocent. "Celebrity Secrets" quotes Beatles chronicler Ray Connolly calling Lennon "naive" and "absolutely the softest of touches for all kinds of causes." In "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," Lennon seems to believe his own goofiest directions will move the world. "Let your hair grow until there's peace," he instructs.

"I would say there is a naive quality there," Scheinfeld said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. But "there wasn't naivete in John and Yoko's using performance art to get across a political message. The bed-in was a brilliant use of their fame by a very savvy individual."

Some say there was another Lennon - the Egotist - the one who felt he could stop an international conflict through the power of his name on billboards declaring "War Is Over." But this is the same Lennon who eventually cocooned into the role of reclusive, bread- baking househusband.

Audience members will probably catch glimpses of all of these Lennons in "Ears." And one more: the Lennon with a relevance to our times. Because there are haunting similarities between the Vietnam War era and the Iraq war era, and between government domestic spying then and now.

Theoharis warns about Lennon-style secret surveillance taking place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks because the government may use "these resources in ways we find to be abhorrent. Lennon wasn't stealing government documents. He was simply expressing opposition to war and writing songs. But there's this whole problem of secret surveillance and the use of the FBI resources as a constitutional violation, as a way to intimidate.

"During periods of crisis, to what extent, then, can you rely on the government?"

Said Smoots: "I have been astounded by the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq. It's totally disheartening. There was an old senator who said, 'How can we trust a president who has lied us into this war?' He was talking about LBJ.

"It's just the whole intrusion of government in our lives. And another imperial presidency."

IF YOU GO

What: Next Act Theatre's "Ears on a Beatle"

Where: Off-Broadway Theatre, 342 N. Water St.

When: tonight through April 29

How much: $22-$30; tickets available by calling (414) 278-0765 or by going to www.nextact.org

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