 "Photo: Courtesy Unicorn Theatre")
UMKC's Theatre Department teamed up with the Unicorn Theatre for three plays this year, kicking off the season with "Farragut North," which opened Nov. 13 and runs through Dec. 13.
Playwright Beau Willimon created "Farragut North" based on his own experience working for political campaigns.
The play, set in Des Moines, Iowa, is about the rise and downfall of a 25-year-old press secretary named Stephen Bellamy, played by Mark Thomas.
Thomas is a second year graduate student in the acting program at UMKC.
"I've always been interested in acting, for as long as I can remember," Thomas said.
Playing Bellamy is one of the biggest speaking roles he has had.
"It's a 108-page script," Thomas said. "And I'm on every page of it. … It's been really great, especially working with the Unicorn. They've put a lot of trust in me."
Glenn Mills, a first year graduate student in the theater program and dramaturge for the play, is also looking forward to partnering with the Unicorn.
"I've been a big fan of theirs for years," Mills said. "It's a beautiful relationship (UMKC and the Unicorn together) - they're so interested in helping students of the [theater and acting] program get experience."
Mills also reads "hundreds of scripts" that have been submitted to the Unicorn for possible production. This is the first play he has participated in.
"I'm pretty familiar with the theater," Mills said. "The style, the shows they do, the stories they're interested in, … They try to be one of the first theaters outside of [the plays] original production [to show it]."
He explained "Farragut North" was previewed in 2008 in New York (then Los Angeles) before UMKC decided to put it on.
"It certainly has its laughs," Thomas said. "But overall it's kind of a mystery - as it unfolds, who knows what [is going to happen]."
Thomas described his character, Bellamy, as an "ultra suave, quick thinking, sort of sophisticated … political wiz kid."
"He knows how to spin people and use people to get what he wants," Thomas said. "He's really ambitious … and he finds in the end that he'll do pretty much anything to achieve his goals."
Mills believes the characters, including Bellamy, are still likeable.
"They aren't just cheating each other," he said. "They each have their own needs and egos … but there's a lot of accidents that happen (that create the conflict)."
Mills' role as dramaturge is to be the "audience before the audience" - to oversee the play as it unfolds.
"The true duties of the dramaturge are there to make sure the script is understood properly," Mills said. "They're also there to help the director (with their specific vision)."
And specifically with this play, Mills helped with research on the Iowa caucuses.
Thomas said this play puts a unique twist on politics, showing the audience what goes on "behind the scenes."
"I think a lot of people today are jaded about politics," he said. "There's an underlying mistrust of the government, and I think this play really speaks to that in an interesting way … [It addresses] what drives these people, what makes them people."
For show times and tickets, visit www.unicorntheatre.org.
mcowan@unews.com
