Courtesy of city of Dublin
From a family-friendly Christmas musical to the world premiere of a play about the 29th U.S. president’s extramarital affairs, the Abbey Theater of Dublin has performances for everyone.
“People will recognize the Abbey is providing substantive programming,” says Joe Bishara, who became the theater’s supervisor in 2019 after more than nine years at CATCO.
Families in Dublin and central Ohio can get excited about The Land of Forgotten Toys and its array of characters such as toy store employee Grace and Schmedrick the elf while older audiences will find just as much enjoyment in the historical drama and comedy of The Duchess.
Written by retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Herbert Brown, The Duchess is set in the early 1910s and focuses on Ohioan Warren G. Harding’s political career and romantic affairs. Harding, who spent most of his career in Marion, became president in 1921 and died under strange circumstances in 1923.
The production features a five-person cast and offstage voices. It stars Josie Merkle as Florence Harding; Bill Goldsmith, who led Columbus Children’s Theatre for 30 years, as Warren Harding; Joe Lusher as Harry Daugherty; Britt Kline as Alice Roosevelt Longworth; and Rachel Belenker as Evalyn McLean.
With a roughly 100-minute run time, the play has many different settings and will use modern technology to bring the historical period piece to life. A Victrola record player will serve as a mechanism for keeping the play moving forward.
“That’s what's cool, we’re going to be using multiple projectors to create this landscape for the piece, but a record player that was made hundreds of years ago is what connects everything. So I like that juxtaposition,” Bishara says.
Brown is no stranger to the playwright world. Following six years on the Ohio Supreme Court, he wrote several plays in the ’90s, including Power of God, which was produced by CATCO; You’re My Boy, which explores the relationship between former presidents Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower; Peace with Honor; and Mano a Mano.
“Herb is a pretty big history buff,” Bishara says. “As part of his career, he actually was part of the defense team for the Harding family, which was trying to suppress some of the letters that Warren Harding sent back to his former lovers. That led to the spark for him to write this play.”
He and Brown worked together previously during Bishara’s time with CATCO. After Bishara started working in Dublin, the two eventually had a conversation about Brown’s different projects including The Duchess.
“I thought of it perfect not only for the stage, but I thought it would really resonate with the Dublin community, especially by featuring an Ohio president,” Bishara says. “I thought it ticked a lot of boxes.”
The Duchess digs deeper underneath the facade of the presidency though, Bishara says.
“I think we get to see things that most humans struggle with: maintaining proper communication channels with significant others,” he says.
Additionally, Harding and his wife, Florence, had a fascinating dynamic in their relationship, Bishara adds.
“She was really driven, she wanted him to succeed,” he says. “I think she even glazed over some of his shortcomings as a husband because she wanted so much for him and, subsequently, herself, and the play explores that. The price of power.”
Brandon Klein is the senior editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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The Land of Forgotten Toys
7 p.m. Dec. 16-17; 1 p.m., 4, p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 18
It’s three days before Christmas and Grace works in a toy store owned by her grumpy aunt, Charlotte. Wanting to get away, Grace and her friend, Nikki, are magically transported to the legendary Land of Forgotten Toys. They meet an elf named Schmedrick, encounter an icicle giant and discover that forgotten toys are not misfits.
The Duchess
7 p.m. Feb. 10-11, 17-19; 2 p.m. Feb. 13
Written by former Ohio Supreme Court justice Herb Brown, the play is set in the early 1910s and takes a look at the political career and romantic affairs of scandal-plagued Ohioan Warren G. Harding, who became president in 1921 and died under strange circumstances in 1923.
For tickets, visit www.dublinohiousa.gov/abbey-theater or call 614-410-4550.
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