Bill Clinton Hercules opens at Rep's Black Box Theatre

Bill Clinton, former president, Arkansas governor and attorney general, requires little additional explanation these days, unlike Bill Clinton Hercules, which is a one-man play, with Bob Paisley portraying the man from Hope at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre Annex Black Box Theatre.

Written by Rachel Mariner, who was a Clinton defense attorney in the case of Jones v. Clinton, the play's director is Guy Masterson, who first staged the play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in 2014.

"It's almost like a TED talk, with the center of the show Seamus Heaney's allegorical play The Cure at Troy," Paisley says from his Kansas City, Mo., home. "From reading the president's own book, we learned that Heaney's is the one book that he has said he rereads each year, not once, but twice.

"People all over the world know a lot about the president, his politics and his legacy. I was enamored of him and his accomplishments, and he is still accomplishing things."

Paisley says the show is serious, not a parody or satire, but viewers will still find some things to chuckle over.

"I don't know if anyone would confuse me with Bill Clinton," he admits. "I'm 11 years younger, an inch shorter and my nose is not that similar. I don't use a wig, but I do have a few of those characteristic gestures, and enough of the voice.

"What I do have is a $600 suit, which does make me reek with the aura of a president. It's a 'bipartisan' show, with no time spent bashing Republicans, I should add."

The 85-minute play features a simple set, which Paisley likens to a town hall or lecture, where a glass of water may be the only "prop."

Although the director lives on a different continent from the actor, Paisley says they manage to connect at intervals, for one reason, to update the play to keep it current.

"I just got some rewrites yesterday," he says, "which is particularly helpful for the Little Rock performances. I worry about getting all the details right, since you folks around Little Rock know him so well."

Paisley believes in researching his roles. He went to the Clinton Presidential Center several months ago when the show was announced and intends to swing by this week to refresh his memories.

"I went incognito the first time and managed to wander about without being recognized," he says with a laugh.

Paisley has previously done the show in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Kansas City, and, most recently, in Adelaide, Australia, in late February and early March. Besides his theatrical credits, he has TV and movie credits that include General Hospital, The Rosa Parks Story, The Empty Acre and Scene of the Crime.

Weekend on 03/24/2016