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| GENRE |
Comedy/drama/experimental/political/historic |
| LENGTH |
Full-length, 105-115 minutes
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| CAST |
5 either (5-158 actors possible: 0-158 females, 0-158 males) |
| SET |
Extensive prop storage, a projection screen for slides or video, four podiums, a table, a chalkboard or something similar, and an oversized pair of scales.
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| NOTES |
Adult language |
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| 43 Plays For 43 Presidents is a chronological, biographical survey of the lives and presidencies of each of the 43 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 and arrives at a WWF-style wrestling match over the 2000 election, when George W. Bush dons the coat and begins the 43rd play. Audience members consider their role in shaping the history they just witnessed, and are left to ponder where the presidency has gone since its fall from paradise, and where it will go next. |
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| "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: They definitely are on to something in this zany, clever, ambitious and often surprisingly moving historical catalogue." |
| --Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times |
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Read more reviews |
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| 43 Plays For 43 Presidents, The Neo-Futurists at the Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia (2004). |
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