Performances will run September 18-November 23
Tickets are available at NYCityCenter.org
Conceived and directed by Stephen Sachs, the work recounts the true story of the 18-year-old son who turned in his father to the FBI for his active participation in the January 6th storming of the US Capitol, through official transcripts of court testimony, public statements, and case evidence presented in The United States vs. Guy Wesley Reffitt, the jury trial held before the US District Court in Washington, DC, from February 28-March 8, 2022.
Review by Samuel L. Leiter for TheatreLife 9/30/24
“The notion of a left-leaning son—who supported Bernie Sanders’s democratic socialist platform—turning on his own right-wing, firearm-packing father, whom he nevertheless professes to love, contains a built-in dramatic wallop, one that countless families riven by our divided nation can appreciate. It’s also a blow that Stephen Sachs has aimed at our political jaws by crafting a docudrama based strictly on the “court evidence, public statements, and the official transcript” of the trial in a production Sachs directed at Los Angeles’s intimate Fountain Theatre. That production, its creative and performing company intact, is currently at the City Center Stage II.”
Opinion by Michelle Goldberg for the New York Times 9/30/24
“As Jackson tells it, before Trump’s rise, he and his father were very close. Guy’s job in the oil industry meant he was often away from home, ‘but when he was there, he was more than an amazing father,’ said Jackson. ‘I mean, he raised me to be who I am, to make those decisions, an honest, loving man.'”…
“Jackson was grateful that the play presented his dad as more than a caricature and said he sympathizes with the strains that left him feeling betrayed by his country and eager for someone to blame. ‘I understand my dad’s struggle,’ he told me. ‘I was there. I lived it.’ He could imagine, he said, how scary it was for his father to find himself unemployed and cast out of the middle class. Guy, he said, found a desperately needed sense of purpose on the far-right edge of the MAGA movement.”
Review by Lauren Collins-Hughes for the New York Times 9/23/24
“That emotion figures palpably in “Fatherland,” a finely calibrated, surprisingly affecting new work of verbatim theater at New York City Center Stage II…”
“Using text from the transcript of the elder Reffitt’s 2022 trial, and other publicly available sources, the play calls its central characters simply Father (Ron Bottitta) and Son (an exquisitely restrained Patrick Keleher). Their clash, for all its 21st-century Americanness, is as primal as any parent-child conflict from ancient Greek drama, or from Shakespeare.
“Toggling between the son’s testimony and flashbacks to the events he describes, the production uses a thrumming underscore (by Stewart Blackwood) to amp up the tension. But Sachs and his fine cast make the tale’s inherent human messiness paramount — love and hate tangled up in loyalty and bravery.”
Review by Deb Miller for DC Theatre Arts 9/26/2024
“The increasingly intense four-hander pits prosecutor against defense attorney, “moderately conservative” gun-toting father against “moderately liberal” digital-age son, who, under questioning and in evidentiary submissions, recall happy experiences from the past and continue to profess their love for each other despite their opposing political views. But when Trump challenges the results of the 2020 presidential election and sends out a call to rally at the Capitol Building, urging his supporters to “fight like hell” or “you’re not going to have a country anymore,” things change. The relationship between the proudly reactionary father – who brags about his intentions on social media, arms himself for battle, and makes the trip from Texas to DC by car (since he wouldn’t be able to take his weapons on a plane) – and his deeply concerned son – who surreptitiously contacts the FBI and makes many secret recordings of his father on his cell phone (so they will believe that he’s telling the truth) – explodes and their family is torn apart after the elder is arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of multiple charges, with his then 19-year-old son serving as the government’s key witness.
“It’s a divisive episode from our recent history and a personal struggle between filial loyalty and moral conscience, brought to life by a compelling cast, reprising their roles from the LA production, and gripping staging that moves back and forth between the courtroom testimony and word-for-word re-enactments of the memories, events, and conversations they shared, and the range of intensifying emotions they embrace in their powerful portrayals.”
Bottom: Ron Bottitta, Jackson Reffitt, Patrick Keleher
Review by David Barbour for Lighting & Sound America 9/26/2024
“Fatherland traces with exactitude the breakdown of the relationship between Father and Son, followed by Son’s decision to alert the authorities, which, he knows, will have irrevocable consequences. The production, from Los Angeles’ Fountain Theatre (where Sachs is co-founder and artistic director), is swift and merciless, driven by a first-rate cast.”
News by Logan Culwell-Block for Playbill.com 8/24/2024
“A new verbatim theatre play, titled Fatherland and centered on the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, will make an Off-Broadway debut this fall at New York City Center Stage II. The concept is from Stephen Sachs, who is also directing.
“The work uses public statements, case evidence, and official court transcripts to explore the true story of an 18 year-old who turned in his father to the FBI following the latter’s violent participation in the January 6 attack. The Off-Broadway debut follows a run at Los Angeles’ Fountain Theatre.”
