A World Premiere in two acts
We bring you this special production to honour Mr Freed’s 90th birthday earlier this year and the enduring support to him and to our own work from Donald’s wife Patricia (Patty) Rae Freed, as well as from Donald himself.
According to Mr. Freed's friend and colleague, the late Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, "(Freed) is a writer of blazing imagination, courage and insight.” We agree.
For the first time ever we bring together two short plays as two acts of House of Nixon:
SECRET HONOR A one-character study of Richard Nixon taping his final defense. Play and film won the Berlin Critics Prize.
THE MYSTERIOUS MRS. NIXON A poignant character study with Pat Nixon entering the stage as her husband exits in the SECRET HONOR.
We have previously produced Secret Honor, starring Steve Scott, a performance described as “Exhilarating” by the Washington Post, to 4 and 5 star reviews, the accolade of “Best of Festival” from Washington DC in 2016, and a Gold Medal at the 2017 Hollywood Festival. Steve will reprise his award winning role in this new production. We have mounted other previous productions at Edinburgh and Brighton festivals, and also in Los Angeles, New York and at the UK’s York Theatre Royal. For our New York production, we were honored to welcome Mrs Freed to the audience.
In her first production with us, actor, director, coach and examiner, Petina Hapgood will portray Pat Nixon, a casting choice approved by Mr Freed himself, who observed that she really understands the character. Petina has been doing her homework on the characters and history surrounding the Nixons and had a number of thoughtful questions for Donald when we spoke with him recently.
As Mr Freed says of Secret Honor: “This is a play of “Fact” and of “Cruelty.” We made the man and we broke him. He is of us, simply, and we must come to terms with him, at last.” In The Mysterious Mrs Nixon, Donald observes the demure power of the woman behind the man, adept at clearing up his mess.
The production will be directed by Stefan Antoniuk and Stage Managed by David Watts.
For more on Donald Freed see https://donaldfreed.com