Ray Richmond, our pal the journalist, critic, and “conscience of the entertainment industry” was no different. Until he became very different and turned his outrage into a theatrical production.
TRANSITION is the name of the play. It’s about that first Oval Office meeting between President Barack Obama and president-elect Donald Trump on November 10, 2016, and has its world premiere on March 11 at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood.The 90-minute production is described as “an imagined, dramatic recreation of the historic sitdown that took place on November 10, 2016 (two days after Trump's shocking victory in the Presidential election)... a compelling drama with comedic elements woven throughout.
"The meeting evolves into a chess match between a man who's spent years building a legacy, and an outsider moving in to tear it all down. The play touches on issues including immigration, gun control, health care, sexism and nuclear war.”
TRANSITION stars Joshua Wolf Coleman as President Barack Obama and Harry S. Murphy as Donald Trump, and is directed by Lee Costello.
Coleman is a veteran of Guthrie Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse who's played the title role in Macbeth and Puddn'head
Wilson and appeared in television series including Grey's
Anatomy, House,
and The West Wing.
Murphy is a writer-performer alumnus of Second
City in Chicago whose credits include Charlie Wilson’s War, Evan Almighty,
Reefer Madness – The Movie Musical, Scandal, and Curb
Your Enthusiasm.
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| Joshua Wolf Coleman in Hidalgo |
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| Harry S. Murphy with Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 3 Episode 6 |
Director Lee Costello is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre. She's directed countless plays in New York and Los Angeles regional theatre including last year’s Waiting for Grace at The Odyssey Theatre, which was chosen by The Huffington Post as one of the Top Ten theatre productions in Los Angeles in 2016.
TRANSITION is the first theatrical effort directly inspired by the Trump Era. It’s also the first play by Ray, who’s well-known as an entertainment critic, columnist, reporter and blogger for publications including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and the Los Angeles Times, and who's written four books.
"After the election, I was as devastated as everyone else by the fact our country was about to go to hell," Richmond says. “But when President Obama invited Trump to the Oval Office for a meeting, it struck me as a perfect construct for a two-man stage play. Writing it lifted me from my funk, driven by equal parts fear and inspiration.”
"After the election, I was as devastated as everyone else by the fact our country was about to go to hell," Richmond says. “But when President Obama invited Trump to the Oval Office for a meeting, it struck me as a perfect construct for a two-man stage play. Writing it lifted me from my funk, driven by equal parts fear and inspiration.”
TRANSITION will run for five weekends and 16 performances, through April 9 at the Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. Tickets are available at Plays411.com/Transition.
Ray has reserved two pairs each for Presidents Trump and Obama.
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