Dirty facts of life

Even if you are exhausted after the recent never-ending presidential campaign — which seemed to have had a longer run than "Cats" — you will find yourself drawn into "Farragut North," Beau Willimon's supremely entertaining dissection of the machinations behind getting elected.

The Atlantic Theater Company's rapid-fire production, which opened Wednesday at its Linda Gross Theater, is a political morality tale, or maybe one should say an amorality tale. It follows the descent into dirty doings by a young press officer employed by a governor running for president in the Iowa primary.

Wheeling and dealing are a way of life for Stephen, portrayed by the terrific John Gallagher Jr., a Tony winner for the musical "Spring Awakening" and who demonstrated serious dramatic chops in Conor McPherson's "Port Authority" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Rabbit Hole."

Gallagher's genial, baby-face looks suit the deceptively ingratiating Stephen, a PDA-addicted climber who stings like a scorpion when threatened. And threatened is what eventually happens to Stephen in Willimon's intricate story of back-stabbing and tables constantly turning. To give away much more would lessen the enjoyment of his constantly surprising plot.

The playwright doesn't have a very high opinion of those who operate in the political arena. Everyone uses everyone else to get what they want, and the players not only include people in high and low campaign positions, but members of the press, eager for a story.

Willimon's dialogue is slick and rat-tat-tat punchy, almost cinematic in its fast-forwarding, as is Doug Hughes' fluid direction. Of course, a movie version already is in the works.

Among the other folk in this high-stakes game is Stephen's campaign manager boss, played by Chris Noth with a crude, dissipated bonhomie that masks his savvy knowledge of how to win no matter whom it hurts.

Others in Willimon's Washington menagerie are equally out for whatever they can get. Kate Blumberg portrays a calculating reporter for The New York Times, a woman willing to negotiate for scoops; Olivia Thirlby is a young intern who isn't as naive as she might seem; Dan Bittner plays Stephen's ambitious protege — a very quick study, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. expertly essays an equally ruthless employee of the governor's main primary opponent.

"Farragut North" is named after the Washington subway stop at Connecticut Avenue and K Street where most of the offices for high-powered government lobbyists are located. In Willimon's hands, it's also a state of mind, a never-never land where anything goes as long as your man — or woman — gets elected.