With Election Day just around the corner, dive into the drama of politics with our collection of election-themed titles! There’s no better time to engage with stories that capture the high stakes and human emotions behind every campaign!
The Best Man by
Photo by Jennifer Taylor, 2013 Harvey Theater production
The New York Post describes the plot as follows: “…William Russell, the ex-Secretary of State, is a wit and scholar with high liberal principles, beloved of the eggheads and suspected by practical politicians. Joseph Cantwell is a ruthless and hard-driving young man, a dirty fighter who will let no scruples stand in the way of his ambitions. And Arthur Hockstader is an ex-President, who loves politics for their own sake, admires a rough-and-tumble battler more than a chivalrous one, and is determined to have the final say in the selection of his party’s candidate…The ruthless young man has got hold of papers indicating that his rival once suffered from a mental crackup, which he is all set to use. Then his scrupulous antagonist comes across some incriminating evidence about Cantwell, which he is loath to produce. The scruples don’t appeal to the ex-President, who enjoys seeing the boys fight. All of this provides the framework for some vivid and interesting scenes in which Mr. Vidal contrasts the minds, emotions and fighting spirits of the two candidates…”
First Lady Suite by
Photo by Jessica Holleque, 2023 Theater Elision production
The first piece, the staccato, yet hauntingly lyrical Over Texas, takes place aboard Air Force One on November 22nd, 1963. Mary Gallagher, the First Lady’s personal secretary, and Evelyn Lincoln, personal secretary to the President, are trying to relax as they fly into Dallas. Mary, exhausted by the lifestyle, is coaxed into napping by the cool, collected, Evelyn. Mary’s dreams become portentous nightmares as they are haunted by a ghostly Jackie and an eerie Lady Bird. (1 man, 4 women.)
The brassy, bouncy Where’s Mamie Takes place in Ike and Mamie’s bedroom at the White House, yet quickly turns into a time-travel fantasy as Mamie, melancholic and alone on her birthday, is paid a visit by Marian Anderson. Marian whisks Mamie off to Algiers to confront Ike about his affair with his driver, Kay Summersby, and warn him of the racial strife he’ll face later in life as President. (1 man, 3 women.)
The comical Olio presents Margaret Truman at a recital trying her best to sing as she’s constantly, hilariously, being upstaged by First Lady Bess. (1 man, 1 woman, or 2 women.)
The final piece of the Suite, the melodic Eleanor Sleeps Here, is a heart rending examination of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok as they’re being flown over Washington by Amelia Earhart. (3 women.)
46 Plays For 46 Presidents by Karen Weinberg, Chloe Johnston, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Andy Bayiates
46 Plays for 46 Presidents is exactly what it sounds like, but every turn it takes is entirely unexpected. In each of these espresso shots of American history, a member of the flexible ensemble dons the star-spangled coat of the presidency and the group explores a surprising aspect of that administration. The short plays run on a spectrum from elections to impeachments, from personal stories to political battles, and from funny to tragic. Whether it’s a comedy roast of Thomas Jefferson, a nuanced monologue about social upheaval during the Johnson administration, or a mini-musical about George Bush Sr., you’re never going to know what’s coming next. A unique, thought-provoking, and wildly entertaining evening of theatre.
46 Plays for America’s First Ladies by Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Chloe Johnston, Andy Bayiates, Bilal Dardai, Sharon Greene
Photo by Alex Wohlheuter, 2022 Theatre Pro Rata Production
46 Plays for America’s First Ladies leaps from comic to tragic as it surveys the lives of the women who have served (and avoided serving) as First Lady, from Martha Washington to Jill Biden. A biographical, meta-theatrical, genre-bending ride through race, gender, and everything else your history teacher never taught you about the founding of America.
Conscience by
Margaret Chase Smith is a woman of firsts: the first woman to serve in both the House of Representatives (taking over her deceased husband’s House seat) and the Senate, and the first woman in either house to represent Maine. After a year of acclimating to being the only woman in the Senate, she finds herself giving her first speech on the Senate floor, a “Declaration of Conscience” where she decides to take a stand and rebuke Joseph McCarthy, the renegade senator from her own party who is using baseless, dangerous rhetoric to further his own political career. After McCarthy and his enablers turn on her, Smith is abandoned by her allies and must stand up for what is right on her own, as a politician, a citizen, and a woman.
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, adapted by Tony Taccone and Bennett S. Cohen
A cautionary dark satire about the fragility of democracy and how fascism can take hold even in the land of liberty, IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE follows the ascent of a demagogue who becomes president of the United States by promising to return the country to greatness. Witnessing the new president’s tyranny from the sidelines is a liberal, middle-class newspaper editor from Vermont who trusts the system will fix itself—until he ends up in a prison camp. Sinclair Lewis’ eerily prescient 1935 novel gets a fresh update in this adaptation that examines what brings a citizenry to the point of sacrificing its own freedom and how a courageous few can prevail to overcome the fall.
The Election by Don Zolidis
After an embattled student body president resigns in disgrace, Mark Davenport figures he will cruise to victory in the special election. After all, his only opponent is nerdy Christy Martin, who wants to eliminate football. But when a mysterious Super PAC gives her an unlimited budget, things start to get very ugly. Mark must face total annihilation or accept the services of a slick professional campaign manager with questionable ethics and a million-dollar Super PAC of his own. A hilarious and timely satire on the contemporary political scene.
The Manchurian Candidate by
Raymond Shaw is a young American hero, the first Congressional Medal of Honor winner since Vietnam. Decorated for saving his troops in a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East, he has returned to the U.S. and a career as a journalist in Washington, D.C. His wealthy widowed mother has married the repugnant racist Senator John Iselin, wedding her lust for power to his crude demagoguery. Through ruthless manipulation of the media, the power elite and the disenchanted masses, Mrs. Iselin maneuvers her husband closer and closer to the vice-presidential nomination. She even masterminds Raymond’s marriage to Jocie Jordan, the beautiful daughter of Senator Tom Jordan, the favored candidate for vice-president. In a series of chilling flashbacks, Raymond is shown to have been no war hero, but a prisoner brainwashed by mysterious captors in the Middle East. It was during the brainwashing sessions that Raymond killed several of his own men in cold blood, was told he saved them, and the seeds were planted for future murders using Raymond as the dupe. One of the other prisoners, and a survivor, was Ben Marco, who discovers the international conspiracy that depends upon Raymond killing a number of prominent figures. As Ben vainly attempts to find someone to believe him in order to stop the killing, Raymond struggles to understand his own dreams and flashbacks while systematically murdering the people who are blocking the Iselin nomination: the savvy editor of his newspaper, his father-in-law and even Jocie. When Ben finally unravels the final step in the plot, he races to the Republican Convention to prevent Raymond from completing the final murder: the assassination of the president, who has just chosen Johnny Iselin as his running mate. In his last confrontation with his mother, Raymond learns that she has been a part of this ongoing plot and has used him as a murdering pawn in her scheme to put Johnny Iselin in the White House. With a deep, incestuous kiss, she sends him to his fate. As these characters engage in the final battle for ultimate power, the play reaches a crescendo of almost unbearable suspense.
Rightlynd by
The 1st play in Ike Holter’s Rightlynd Saga
Rightlynd, the first play in Ike Holter’s seven-play saga, is set in the fictional 51st Ward of Chicago. Abandoned storefronts crumble and the L stopped running a long time ago. Using her street smarts and determined to honor her mother’s legacy, Nina Esposito runs for alderman on a righteous mission to save the place she and her people call home. She faces the extreme headwinds of cunning drug lords, greedy real estate conglomerates, and a vicious political machine; all fighting for control of the Windy City neighborhood. However, the greatest danger might be to Nina’s soul, as her crusade threatens to turn her into just another cynical city politician holding on to power.
The Outsider by
Ned Newley doesn’t even want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking; his poll numbers are impressively bad. To his ever-supportive Chief of Staff, Ned seems destined to fail. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office. Unless the public is looking for… the worst candidate to ever run for office. A timely and hilarious comedy that skewers politics and celebrates democracy.
