The U.S. presidency comes to life at Bishop Hendricken from March 29-31
For further information, contact: Christian Kabbas, Digital Media Specialist, ckabbas@hendricken.com, 401.739.3450, ext. 121.
WARWICK, RI (March 27, 2019) – The Arts at Bishop Hendricken proudly presents 45 Plays for 45 Presidents as its spring play from March 29-31 at the Dr. Daniel S. Harrop Theater on the campus of Bishop Hendricken High School.
45 Plays for 45 Presidents features a three-show engagement, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $12 for students and seniors, and $15 for adults. Tickets are available for purchase online at: www.hendricken.com/boxoffice. Tickets can also be purchased by calling the Box Office at (401) 739-3450, ext. 120. The Box Office will also be open for ticket sales one hour prior to each performance.
“This production has been a different, but exciting undertaking for our program,” said Richard Sylvia, Director of Arts. “It’s rare that our students get the opportunity to create 45 diverse theatrical experiences condensed into 2 hours, and the end result has turned into a fun and unique telling our country’s history through a very interesting lens.”
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 thus 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 the George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump 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.
The production features more than 40 student actors and technicians from various Catholic, public, and private schools from around the state of Rhode Island. The production is spearheaded by a creative team of Hendricken faculty, staff, and alumni.