Where can you listen to Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger debate their place in history one night and come back the next night for a comedy about actors and the craft they love?
The Hamner Theater in Nelson County is presenting two shows in repertory through March 20, and that’s where fans can find a work by a local playwright and actor — Charlottesville’s own Robert Wray penned “All is Always Now” — and a production of “Nixon’s Nixon” directed by another local, Marcello Rollando, the same director who directed the New York City premiere of a play then known as Nixon and Kissinger.”
“Nixon’s Nixon” can be seen tonight and Saturday. “All is Always Now” will be in previews Tuesday and Wednesday and will open on Thursday.
Russell Lees wrote “Nixon’s Nixon,” which envisions Nixon and Kissinger meeting at the White House on Aug. 7, 1974 — the night before Nixon resigned from the presidency. Both men are reflecting on their places in history.
Chris Patrick plays Nixon, and Chris Baumer portrays Kissinger, Nixon’s secretary of state.
Lees has written a play about another president: “Monticel’ ’’ is his look at machinations at Monticello. He also is the creator of “The Dark Eye,” a videogame based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe and voiced by William S. Burroughs.
Wray is a graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and his plays have been produced across the country.
He created “All is Always Now” in part at the Hamner’s Virginia Playwrights Initiative, which is a workshop for new plays.
Peter Coy, the Hamner’s co-artistic drector, directs “All is Always Now,” and the cast includes Kevin O’Donnell, Patrick, Anya Scott and Ryan Wender.
Together, they’ll bring audiences into the world of a group of friends with strong theater ties who share one last evening together in New York, exploring such themes as loss and moving on.
Admission is $10. The two previews are free. Stick around after Thursday’s opening-night performance for a champagne reception with the cast and crew.
details
Nixon’s Nixon
7:30 tonight, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; runs through March 13
All is Always Now
7:30 p.m. March 4; free previews at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; runs through March 20
Hamner Theater
$10
www.hamnertheater.com
361-1999
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