44 Plays for 44 Presidents
by Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Chloe Johnston, and Karen Weinberg
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is a play, first produced by The Neo-Futurists of Chicago in 2002. The Neo-Futurists inspired 44 separate productions of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents across the country in the months leading up to the 2012 Presidential Election. Elemental Theatre Collective was thrilled to be part of the Plays for Presidents Festival: 2012!
Elemental performed 44 Plays for 44 Presidents
Election Weekend - November 1 - November 6, 2012
Thu/Fri/Sat at 7 pm and Sunday at 2 pm
Special Election Night Extravaganza: Tuesday, November 6 at 7 pm
95 Empire Black Box
95 Empire St Providence RI 02903
Election Weekend - November 1 - November 6, 2012
Thu/Fri/Sat at 7 pm and Sunday at 2 pm
Special Election Night Extravaganza: Tuesday, November 6 at 7 pm
95 Empire Black Box
95 Empire St Providence RI 02903
About the Play:
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is a 2-hour show comprised of short, biographical scenes highlighting the lives of all the American presidents. Their mistakes and successes are celebrated by a company of actors who take turns donning a star-spangled coat that symbolizes the presidency. Beginning with George Washington’s almost Eden-like perfection, the scenes shift frequently between the comic and the tragic, from Ben Franklin giving Thomas Jefferson a Borscht Belt-style roast, to the frank portrayal of William Henry Harrison’s life as an “Indian slayer,” and later the grim onset of the Civil War. Act II starts off the twentieth century with the assassination of William McKinley, moves through a Nixon-praising dance number and a George Bush, Sr. mini-musical about dirty campaigning, and arrives at a polarized America in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama plays. Audience members consider their role in shaping the history they’ve just witnessed, as they are left to ponder where the presidency has gone since its fall from paradise… and where it will go next.
More about ETC's involvement
More about the Festival
More about the Neo-Futurists
Fun facts:
ETC's Dave Rabinow and Neo-Futurist Andy Bayiates were once in an improv group together called Grand Malarky!
ETC's D'Arcy Dersham and Neo-Futurists Greg Allen, Phil Ridarelli and Adrian Danzig once worked together at Hubinspoke Theater in Vermont, and brought their show to Bread and Puppet's illustrious Domestic Resurrection Circus!
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is a 2-hour show comprised of short, biographical scenes highlighting the lives of all the American presidents. Their mistakes and successes are celebrated by a company of actors who take turns donning a star-spangled coat that symbolizes the presidency. Beginning with George Washington’s almost Eden-like perfection, the scenes shift frequently between the comic and the tragic, from Ben Franklin giving Thomas Jefferson a Borscht Belt-style roast, to the frank portrayal of William Henry Harrison’s life as an “Indian slayer,” and later the grim onset of the Civil War. Act II starts off the twentieth century with the assassination of William McKinley, moves through a Nixon-praising dance number and a George Bush, Sr. mini-musical about dirty campaigning, and arrives at a polarized America in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama plays. Audience members consider their role in shaping the history they’ve just witnessed, as they are left to ponder where the presidency has gone since its fall from paradise… and where it will go next.
More about ETC's involvement
More about the Festival
More about the Neo-Futurists
Fun facts:
ETC's Dave Rabinow and Neo-Futurist Andy Bayiates were once in an improv group together called Grand Malarky!
ETC's D'Arcy Dersham and Neo-Futurists Greg Allen, Phil Ridarelli and Adrian Danzig once worked together at Hubinspoke Theater in Vermont, and brought their show to Bread and Puppet's illustrious Domestic Resurrection Circus!
Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
(www.playscripts.com)
44 PLAYS FOR 44 PRESIDENTS was made possible through major funding support from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
(www.playscripts.com)
44 PLAYS FOR 44 PRESIDENTS was made possible through major funding support from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
