Carroll premiers his ‘Greek tragedy’

Carroll premiers his ‘Greek tragedy’

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff

Michael Carroll,
an engineering professor by trade, has found it hard to
focus on continuum mechanics these days.

He enjoys his
field of research, but he has been more than a bit distracted
during his fall semester sabbatical. His play “I Hear
the Rolling Thunder” has its world premiere tomorrow
at Stage West Theater in Fort Worth. The play, a portrait
of Lyndon Johnson, runs through Nov. 4.

The multitalented
Carroll, the Burton J. and Ann M. McMurtry Professor of
Engineering in Computational and Applied Mathematics, has
been basking in the life of the playwright. He sits in on
rehearsals at Stage West and recently had a long chat with
former House speaker Jim Wright, who knew Johnson well and
plans to bring his “President and Congress” class
at Texas Christian University to one of the performances.

“I Hear
the Rolling Thunder” is a behind-closed-doors look
at Johnson as he agonizes over escalating the Vietnam War,
a pivotal and heart-wrenching time in his presidency.

Carroll has
had a keen interest in LBJ for decades. In the late ’60s,
he was teaching at the University of California at Berkeley,
a hub of anti-war activity. He also was the campus ombudsman.

“The conventional
wisdom at the time was that Lyndon Johnson was evil,” says Carroll, who after studying Johnson for many years
has come to see him in a far more positive light.

Carroll spent
many hours researching his subject at the Lyndon Baines
Johnson Library and Museum in Austin. About five or six
times in his readings he’d see the phrase “like
a Greek tragedy” to describe Vietnam’s impact
on Johnson. So, Carroll wondered to himself, “Why hasn’t
anybody written it?”

While writing
his “Greek tragedy,” Carroll grew fond of his
subject. He recalls watching this year’s Democratic
National Convention and hearing a speaker cite the accomplishments
of Democratic presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Carter
and Clinton. Johnson, who created the Great Society, was
not mentioned. Says Carroll, “I’ve never been
as mad in my life.”

The play’s
title comes from the code name for a saturation bombing
of North Vietnam called “Operation Rolling Thunder”;
thunder is a recurring motif in the play.

Carroll, who
opposed the Vietnam War, learned in his research that among
the 15 or so “wise men” in the president’s
inner circle, Johnson was actually the second-most dovish.

The Irish-born-and-raised
Carroll was drawn to a figure like Johnson partly because,
he says, “of all the American states, Texas is closest
to Ireland.” He notes that both places have their own
expressive language and both celebrate colorful, larger-than-life
people.

Johnson was definitely
colorful, and Carroll believes the Irish would greatly appreciate
him. “I really would like to see the play produced
in Ireland,” he says.

In “Rolling
Thunder” Carroll sometimes borrows actual lines and
phrases LBJ used, such as “I’ve got more trouble
than a farmer’s got oats.” At other times he uses
phrases that Johnson might have used, such as “money,
marbles and chalk.”

He acknowledges
a debt of gratitude to his Rice colleagues Sandy Havens,
recently retired director of Rice Players; Dennis Huston,
professor of English; and Linda Driskill, professor of English,
all of whom read the play and offered constructive criticism
and support.

The play contains
a Rice reference: The character Hardy, a Bill Moyers-type
aide to Johnson, is named after Hardy Bourland, who was
associate dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering
when Carroll was dean.

Carroll has
begun working on his next play, which is about Napoleon.

When getting
started on a play, Carroll says he does a lot of reading
and note-taking. “For my first draft, I don’t
look at my notes,” he says. “The things I need
to remember, I remember. The cream will rise to the top.”

Rice alumni living
in the Dallas area are organizing an Oct. 21 “Rolling
Thunder” event in Fort Worth. Alumni from Houston and
other cities also are invited.

The evening will
include the play and dinner followed by a question-and-answer
session with Carroll and other principals in the production.
Tickets are $30. For more information call the alumni office
at (713) 348-4057.