Suffice it to say, there are some things that will never happen. The previous presidential administration will likely never be called to answer directly for any of the decisions they had made with respect to foreign policy. Lies were told. Lives were lost. Playwright Lee Blessing has something to say about this. Mr. Blessing writes, "There were significant questions that begged exploring. The war in Iraq (President Bush) had rushed this country into was still going on. It would ultimately kill over 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis. In Europe, people were wondering aloud why George W. Bush shouldn't be tried for war crimes." In 2008, Blessing wrote When We Go Upon the Sea.
The drama is a political fantasy in which George W. Bush is brought before the World Court. Blessing explains, "Sometimes it's informative to imagine what we can't examine literally. Such a play might provide a kind of dramatic "moot court" to test the arguments pro and con for holding Mr. Bush responsible."
Next Act Theatre’s David Cecsarini has wanted to stage the drama since 2009. He was hoping for it to be a companion piece to Welcome Home Jenny Sutter, which explored the life of a woman who had just returned to the states from military service overseas. There was room in the schedule this season for a one-night-only staged reading of When We Go Upon the Sea.
Cecsarini has since stated the following in a press release:
“We have since discovered that not everyone believes the play worthy of a hearing. One of our perennial foundation funders, generously supporting Next Act programming for 24 years, recently informed us that their board of directors was ‘deeply offended’ by the premise of When We Go Upon the Sea. They decided against funding Next Act for this season; a $15,000 loss. “
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This means that Next Act needs to replace 30% of its foundation budget in order to avoid the r risk of “a serious operational deficit.” Ouch. In order to maintain financial stability, Next Act is looking to sell-out the upcoming staged reading and as Cecsarini states, “appeal for support from fair-minded, curious people who are interested in conversations that matter.” As of the press release from last week, Cecsarini reports that Next Act is 20% sold-out on the reading and 1/3 of the way towards getting the rest of the support it needs.
In the press release Cecsarini states:
“Your support is vital to keeping Next Act in sound fiscal condition; strong enough to continue to present exciting new plays that challenge the status quo. During this, our silver anniversary season, we have adopted the phrase, "Provoking you for 25 years." Your support will allow us to make good on that promise.
