Just what makes a political animal? The recent election showed us many such creatures and gave us the opportunity to observe their frantic machinations up close. They were everywhere: in the Senate, on the campaign trail, in back-room offices, holding forth endlessly on the squawk box. Political animals are equally distributed across the left-to-right spectrum: no one party holds a monopoly on them, or even a majority. And as politics have become bigger business and take up ever-expanding portions of our money and attention, the players have become increasingly apt to see an election, especially the all-important presidential election, as a game in its own right, irrespective of any effects the result might have on human lives and well-being. It’s the means and not the end that obsess these folks. The late and justifiably lamented Tim Russert epitomized the breed: on his Meet the Press, it was customary for the presidential election to start dominating the agenda a full two years before the election itself. The horse race aspect of the contest is what counts for the political animal, rather than the actual effectiveness and policies of his or her chosen candidate.

This is the premise behind Farragut North, a really intelligent new play at the Atlantic Theater Company. After suffering through a bumper crop of stinkers on Broadway this season, I decided to retreat to a couple of the better off-Broadway houses where the chances of seeing something not too dumb are a little better.