The satire employs many aspects of rhetoric and word-play, including puns, malapropism, mixed metaphors, tautology and Washington double-speak.
"[1] The play uncovers aspects of the absurd in the working life of government employees; for example, it portrays a non-meeting, a non-discussion, and people being present in the minutes of the meeting despite not attending.
Positive reviews included that of Jack Kroll in Newsweek, who wrote, "If George Orwell were a gag writer, he could have written Mastergate.
Larry Gelbart's scathingly funny takeoff on the Iran-Contra hearings is a spiky cactus flower in the desert of American political theatre.
"[5] Likewise, Linda Winer of Newsday wrote, "Mastergate is a one-joke extended sketch that, unfortunately, never manages the leap to dramatic - much less philosophical - revelation of much we didn't already know.