4 Plays for 44 Presidents aims to break a world record with 20 productions planned across the USA in 2012, including these major cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Boulder, Providence, Seattle, Austin, Des Moines, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Madison, Little Rock.
44 Plays for 44 Presidents states, "Election years—to be honest—make democracy annoying. The 44 Plays for 44 Presidents Festival hopes to inspire the opposite effect, with a national festival that’s already underway. Since its 2002 premiere, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents (originally 43 Plays…) has presented its smart and irreverent take on history, and a 44th play for President Obama."
The play has been produced at venues ranging from The Actors Theatre of Louisville to the High School Auditorium in Solon, Iowa. Audiences have included a famous historian, several Georgia congressmen, and former President Jimmy Carter.
Now a group of volunteers led by the show’s founding father, Andy Bayiates, are aiming to break a world record. "They want more productions across the country than the Federal Theatre Project achieved in 1936 when it inspired 21 simultaneous productions of Sinclair Lewis' It Can’t Happen Here. In fact, the lofty goal of the 44 Plays for 44 Presidents Festival is to inspire 44 separate productions of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, across the U.S. to coincide with this year's election."
About the play: "The production tells the story of America through 2-minute plays dedicated to each of the 44 presidencies. The show ends with cast members handing out voter registration cards and urging audience members to recruit the apathetic among them—regardless of party affiliation—to vote."
Participants from each production will make a video of a part of their show, and festival organizers will put those parts together to form one, online composite production they'll unveil to the world on Election Day.
“This experiment is a way of uniting the theatre community around something specific,” Bayiates said. “It puts high school drama kids side-by-side, virtually speaking, with professional theatre companies, providing them with an experience that immerses them in their country's history.”
Interest has been great, and the numbers are a varied mix of 60 potential productions all at different stages of consideration. At present, 20 productions are confirmed—only 2 productions shy of beating Sinclair Lewis and creeping up on the halfway mark to 44. Producers who have gone public include The Neo-Futurists in Chicago and the famous Little Rock Central High School, alma mater of the Little Rock Nine, whose very public battle to attend an all-white school forced Dwight Eisenhower to send the National Guard to protect them. This historical moment is mentioned in the Eisenhower scene.
44 Plays for 44 Presidents is published by Playscripts.
