SOURCE: Kanfer, Stefan. “Fiasco on the Potomac.” New Leader 80, no. 6 (7 April 1997): 22-3.

In the following negative review, Kanfer examines the characters and plot of An American Daughter, pronouncing the play's central conceit as “false.”

Given the headlines, it becomes increasingly difficult to view Hillary Rodham Clinton as a dupe. Unless, of course, you live in Barbra Streisand's part of Hollywood, where the First Lady has become a classic feminist icon: Woman as Victim. Or you happen to stop by the Cort Theater, where Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter is being performed.

The story begins merrily enough in the opulent, ultra-civilized Georgetown home of the Abrahmsons. The President has just nominated the lady of the house, Dr. Lyssa Dent Hughes (Kate Nelligan), for the post of Surgeon General. Should Congress approve—and she looks like a shoo-in—the appointment will cap a remarkable career. A lineal descendant of General...