The first time we hear his voice in this setting we might want to jump out of our seats…
“…The sinister forces trying to kill America have done everything they can to stop me, to silence you, and to turn this nation into a socialist dumping ground for criminals, junkies,Marxists, thugs, radicals, and dangerous refugees that no other country wants…”
It is the all too familiar sound of Donald J. Trump, a fixture of our nightly news. Here though, in the story of Fatherland, we aren’t lulled into thinking the babble is just same-old same-old like yesterday’s porridge. Fully fanged and toxic, Trump’s words have power to rip us apart, and indeed they did shatter the family at the center of this story — the Reffitts of Wylie, Texas.
Based entirely on court documents and a few short snippets of Trump’s aforementioned speeches, Fatherland tells the real-world story of how a man gets converted into a 3 %er activist, intent to get his country back for the real patriots like himself. Prone to alcohol-inflamed braggadocio, he becomes a minor ring leader on January 6.
Mr. Reffitt carried firearms and plastic twist-tie handcuffs to the capital and had all intent to take it over, were he not stopped by barrages of rubber bullets and eventually bear spray. Like others filmed so clearly on TV, one can imagine that the DOJ would have caught up with him, charged him and convicted him in due time. The drama in this case though, is that his college age son of opposite political persuasion plays a role in turning him in.
Fountain Theatre Showcases Our Divide
Forget about squabbles around the Thanksgiving table, Fatherland goes into far more terrifying terrain. That the father and son were once best of buddies is in the mix, as are the death threats from father to son even before he knows how his son has secretly recorded his rants and turned him into the FBI.
You may have heard this story before. It was in the news and quite the brilliant stroke by Director Stephen Sachs to weave the court proceedings into a made-for-stage production. A bare set keeps us focused on the words. Mostly though, it is the pitch perfect and electrifying performances of the cast that will pierce your fast-beating anxious heart, in this reviewer’s opinion. We see the world mainly through the eyes of the Son, played by Patrick Keleher, who in turns conveys the guilt, shame, sorrow and more rolled into nearly every one of his words.
