Breakthrough Workshop Theatre presents
45 PLAYS FOR 45 PRESIDENTS
Written by Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Chloe Johnston and Karen Weinberg
Directed by Margot Nelson
Assistant Directed by Natasha Partnoy
45 Plays For 45 Presidents is a chronological, biographical survey of the lives and presidencies of each of the 45 men who have held the office so far. 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, a George Bush Sr. mini-musical about dirty campaigning and arrives at a polarized America in plays about George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 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.
Being presented during Presidents Weekend and directed by 8-time Breakthrough Artist Margot Nelson, this thought-provoking and dynamic play will be performed by an 5-person, all-female powerhouse cast. Following in the footsteps of Steel Magnolias in 2015 and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds in 2016, this will be BWT's 3rd annual project that features an all-female cast and creative team.
This reading is being presented for one performance only at the San Diego Performing Arts Center in Mission Gorge.