Reykjavik86
By Gabe McKinley
Directed by Jaime Castañeda
Produced Dallas Theater Center
Audience Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes/no intermission
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Available
Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available
ASL Showing: Not Available
Sound Level: Comfortable volume
Audio/Visuals to Prepare for: none
Reviewed by Tim Bass
The Cold War was largely defined by what nations refused to say to one another, but Reykjavik86 demonstrates that history can turn on a single conversation.
In Reykjavik86, playwright Gabe McKinley takes audiences inside the 1986 nuclear summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, when these two powerful and profoundly different leaders met in Iceland to address the possibility of nuclear disarmament. This is truly the sort of subject that could easily become a dry historical reenactment or an extended political diatribe. Instead, McKinley has written a gripping, intelligent, and often humorous work that finds genuine theatrical excitement in negotiation.
Directed by Jaime Castañeda, this world premiere at Dallas Theater Center addresses an ambitious subject in an intimate, in-the-round theatrical experience. Despite the weighty subject, the production’s greatest strength is its humanity. Reykjavik86 is interested in history, but it is even more interested in the people attempting to make it. The play recognizes that monumental decisions are not made by monuments, but rather they are made by flawed, complicated individuals who arrive carrying their convictions, fears, ambitions, and assumptions with them.
McKinley’s script is tight, and it moves at just the right pace to keep audiences engaged. He gives the audience enough historical and political context to understand what is at stake without allowing exposition to throw a blanket over the drama. The writing is thoughtful and literate, and it is accomplished without ever feeling like a lecture. Ideas clash, strategies shift, and unexpected moments of humor emerge from personalities colliding under extraordinary pressure. That humor is particularly effective because it does not diminish the seriousness of the subject. Instead, it reveals the humanity beneath the public images.
The play also never succumbs to the temptation to cast its central figures to heroes, villains, or impersonations. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev are recognizable, but the play is less interested in reproducing familiar images than in examining how these men might have navigated an encounter in which every suggestion, every demand, and every concession carried political risk. The result is a story filled with tension even when its characters are simply sitting and talking.
Bob Hess gives an impressive performance as Ronald Reagan. He captures the president’s confidence, charm, and stalwart belief in the principles guiding him without allowing the characterization to become imitation. His subtle suggestion of Reagan’s vocal mannerisms are just the right touch. He finds the intelligence beneath Reagan’s genial public manner, as well as the stubbornness that could turn his conviction into an obstacle. His performance is measured and thoughtful, giving the audience a Reagan who is both commanding and recognizably human. I have only recently discovered Hess’s work despite his extensive resume, and I will welcome any future chance to watch him act.
Blake Hackler is equally compelling as Mikhail Gorbachev. Hackler brings focus, authority, and a compelling sense of calculation to the role. His Gorbachev is always listening, always evaluating, and always aware that the consequences of the summit extend far beyond the room. At the same time, Hackler allows glimpses of the personal burden carried by a leader forging a new future for his country while navigating the weight of history.
The scenes between Hess and Hackler provide the production with its strongest dramatic current. Their performances are distinct but beautifully matched. Neither actor attempts to overpower the other, which makes each subtle shift in the conversation more significant. At times, the men seem remarkably close to understanding one another. At others, a single word or deeply held conviction threatens to dismantle whatever progress has been made. The tension comes not from wondering what history records, but from watching how precariously that history is created.
The rest of the cast is equally outstanding. Frankie J. Alvarez and Tiffany Solano serve as narrators of sorts as V.A. Pash and Petra Morozov respectively. Their banter is easy and tight, and their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the play. They are confident performers who command their space. Liz Mikel brings warmth, intelligence, and formidable presence to Nancy Reagan, while Molly Searcy gives Raisa Gorbachev both grace and substance. Alex Organ is sharply effective as George Shultz (among others), navigating the distance between loyalty, diplomacy, and political pragmatism. Esteban Vilchez and Will Adams round out the cast, flawlessly moving among several roles and perspectives, reinforcing the idea that the summit cannot be separated from the many lives shaped by its decisions.
Castañeda’s staging is confident, fluid, and visually compelling. He understands that a play built around diplomacy must still move. Conversations develop momentum, transitions sharpen the pressure, and the larger company helps place the summit within the specter of the Cold War. The staging makes strong use of the Wyly Theatre, creating a world that feels expansive even as Reagan and Gorbachev become increasingly confined by the centerstage negotiating table and by their own political limitations.
Yvonne Boudreaux’s scenic design provides a very effective environment for the production. The space suggests both the formality of international diplomacy and the stark uncertainty surrounding it. Driscoll Otto’s lighting design shapes the shifting atmosphere with precision, while Fitz Patton’s sound design helps sustain the production’s underlying tension. Jessie Amoroso’s costumes establish period and character without overwhelming the actors or turning the production into a museum piece. Together, these elements create a theatrical landscape in which history feels immediate rather than safely contained in the past.
Perhaps Reykjavik86’s most impressive achievement is its ability to make audiences feel the weight of choices whose outcomes are already known. The play does not rely on historical uncertainty. Instead, it asks viewers to consider how easily events might have unfolded differently. Progress and failure sit beside one another throughout the evening, separated by pride, principle, fear, and the limits of what each leader believes he can surrender. It leaves those of us who lived through it thinking of what might have been.
Although the play is rooted in 1986, its questions could hardly feel more relevant. How do opposing leaders find common ground without abandoning their values? What happens when political survival competes with the survival of humanity? Is compromise a sign of weakness, or can it become an act of courage? McKinley does not offer simple answers, but he gives audiences something more valuable: the opportunity to wrestle with those questions alongside his characters.
Reykjavik86 is an excellent beginning to Dallas Theater Center’s season and an exciting example of Castañeda’s artistic leadership. It is smart, suspenseful, beautifully acted, and staged with compelling imagination. More importantly, it transforms a pivotal diplomatic encounter into deeply engaging theatre.
History tells us what happened in Reykjavik; this stellar production reminds us how much was at stake in the room.
To the Explorers of the Soul,
Tim Bass
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