{"id":11477,"date":"2020-08-26T15:11:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T15:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leicesterbaytheatricals.com\/?p=11477"},"modified":"2025-01-17T15:13:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T15:13:18","slug":"nothing-personal-a-new-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leicesterbaytheatricals.com\/?p=11477","title":{"rendered":"Nothing Personal \u2022\u00a0A New Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Eric Samuelsen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What Is Truth?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Is it defined by power? If so, it may not be truth at all!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

From 1996-1998, Susan McDougal, a woman from Little Rock, Arkansas, married to Jim McDougal, an S&L owner, was under investigation by Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr for her alleged complicity in the Whitewater case. Because she refused to testify before Starr\u2019s Grand Jury, Susan McDougal spent eighteen months in federal prison, including 8 months in solitary confinement. David Hale, a main Whitewater witness, insisted that she had had an affair with Bill Clinton. She insisted that she had not done so, and would not lie about it in court. For that refusal, she was imprisoned. NOTHING PERSONAL is a play very loosely based on McDougal and her imprisonment. The idea that \u2018truth\u2019 is a function of power derives from Kenneth Starr. And the play explores a link between fundamentalist religious dogma and conservative politics. The play also echoes 9\/11, symbolized by imagery of people leaping from the roof of a burning building. The play does describe \u2018Susan\u2019 as being mistreated in ways that Susan McDougal never was. No confusion is intended\u2014 the play simply needed to have a broader scope than the specifics of one case.\u00a0 But Susan McDougal was abused in ways that would be unconscionable now, especially with more transparency. It was possible for government to hide thins then, that seemingly cannot be hidden now. The play’s primary motivation is the exploration of human-rights abuses and the curtailing of basic civil liberties by government, and the people in power.<\/p>\n

The language, accusations, and situations are raw and not for audience members younger than 16-18. These themes are mature and disturbing.<\/p>\n

LOGO Artwork (above) courtesy of Plan-B Theatre Company, featuring Kirt Bateman as Kenneth, April Fossen as Susan, and Dee-Dee-Darby Duffin as Matron.<\/p>\n

As recognized by the Dramatists Guild of America, Plan-B Theatre Company is the only professional theatre company in the United States producing full seasons of new plays by local playwrights.<\/p>\n

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PLAY DETAILS:<\/strong><\/h2>\n