Playwright Beau Willimon, the creator of “House of Cards” (Netflix hit series), delivers a powerful and timely play about the inner workings of presidential campaign.  The work was influenced by his own personal experience of working on both US Senate and Presidential campaigns.

Farragut North premiered in 2008 at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York and would become the basis for the screenplay for the motion picture “Ides of March“.  That screenplay was written by Willimon, George Clooney and Grant Heslov (The Monuments Men).  The play has now come to the Ridgefield Theater Barn and will be performed through October 1, 2016

The play is set during a presidential campaign in the days leading up to the Iowa Caucuses.  The audience meets many of the main characters in Scene One including Stephen (Jack Tynan) they young and blindly ambitious press secretary, his boss Paul (Fred Rueck) the seasoned campaign manager, Ida (Julie Zelman) the crafty and ambitious New York Times reporter who will do whatever it takes for a story, and Ben (Ryan Wenke) the young reserved staff assistant who is kept at a distance by his seasoned superiors.  We learn in this scene both the intrigue and the behind the scenes tactics of a national campaign and how the campaign can manipulate the press and craft the candidates message to serve its needs.

Scene Two of Farragut North is a critical scene where Stephen meets secretly with Tom (Steven A Miller) who is the Campaign Manager of his rival.  In the meeting in a quiet restaurant outside Des Moines, we learn the dirty secrets of misinformation and poll manipulation by the other candidate.  The crafty Tom leads Stephen to believe that his candidates campaign is all but over and he should jump ship and join his team.  Stephen who is both young and ruthlessly ambitious has had his life turned upside down by these revelations and he begins to question his own future.

The political intrigue and games continue for the rest of the play with the appearance of Molly (Margaret Fegan) who is a young amorous intern who is learning more than just national campaigns.  It is her interactions with Stephen that brings to light issues of loyalty, fidelity, betrayal and honesty both on a personal level and in the campaign.

There are excellent performances all around and direction by Cathy Fitzgerald Linder is first rate.

NOTE:  The play contains adult language and subject matter and is not suitable for minors.

Tickets:       $24  ( a real bargain!!)    $20 for seniors, students and veterans

Seating in the 70 seat theater is Cabaret style at tables and doors open 1 hour before showtime.  You can bring your own food, wine and snacks to enjoy prior to the show.

For tickets and information:

Ridgefield Theater Barn 

37 Halpin Lane Ridgefield Ct

http://ridgefieldtheaterbarn.org/

 

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