It’s January in DesMoines, Iowa, during a tight presidential primary race. Thrown into backroom politics, Stephen Bellamy, young, aggressive, talented, and tremendously successful as the press secretary for Governor Morris in his bid to run for President in a crowded Democrat race, struggles between lust for power and loyalty to the cause. Over the course of two days, he falls foul of more experienced operators and is ultimately replaced by an equally ambitious wannabe wunderkind.
Bellamy's world implodes through a series of choices that undo him. It is a fast and gut-wrenching fall propelled by a series of seemingly inconsequential decisions that add up to career disaster.
Although the play is largely a drama, brilliant moments of wit and humor that break the tension. Of Farragut North, Lindsay William-Ross of LAist, says, “If this fictional campaign was like a knitted scarf, these characters are each just one small stitch in a larger, more complicated pattern of individuals who stand behind an emblematic and utilitarian whole; the finished product may appear unblemished and free of imperfections, but what the wearer might never know of are those dropped stitches–the mistakes and fumbles that were eradicated by the next move, the next knot in a seemingly endless chain.”
Farragut North: The CATF Production and Others
First produced at the Linda Gross Theater in New York, Farragut North was directed for CATF on the East Coast by Ed Herendeen in the summer of 2009. On the West Coast, it played concurrently at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In both productions, it begins with media telecasts of animated political discussion.
Its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles is concurrent with its production at CATF, and a feature adaptation of the play is set up at Warner Brothers.
Ethan Fischer of the Shepherdstown Chronicle (July 17, 2009) observed about the CATF production, "Farragut North is beautifully designed by Robert Klingelhoefer, with revolving sets that reflect how the daily news spins via shocking shifts and thrills. The lighting by John Ambrose aptly portrays nocturnal Des Moines or Washington–where dirty deals are struck and where winning players can strike out.”
The play runs 1 hour and 40 minutes with a 10-minute intermission.
Farragut North: The Playwright
Beau Willimon has written eight full-length plays and numerous one-acts. His play Farragut North premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York and was nominated for two Outer Critics Circle Awards: Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the John Gassner Award. His play Lower Ninth premiered at the Flea Theater last year.
He received the Lila Acheson Wallace Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship, the Lincoln Center Le Compte du Nuoy Award, Seymour Brick Memorial Playwrighting Prize, and won the 2005 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest. He is currently working on commissions for Manhattan Theatre Club and The National Theatre of Great Britain, as well as a feature film for Fox 2000. A resident of Brooklyn, Willimon holds an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.
In an interview with Sandy Sponaugle and Jennifer Jensen for the CATF Program, Willimon talked about writing Farragut North: “I’ve worked on a number of campaigns over the years, including Chuck Schumer’s ‘98 Senate race, Hillary Clinton’s ‘00 Senate race and Howard Dean’s ‘04 presidential bid. For Dean’s campaign I moved out to Iowa and helped run press advance at the Des Moines headquarters. Once that campaign was over I returned to New York and subsequently began work on Farragut North. At that time politics was very much on my mind and it was a world I felt I knew intimately. So it was a natural choice for me to try and dramatize it.”
But wait! There’s more! Warner Bros is producing a big-screen version of Farragut North starring Leonardo DiCaprio for possible release in 2010 or 2011. George Clooney is producing the Appian Way and Smoke House co-production, and Willimon is adapting his own work.
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