When Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson were commissioned to write “George and George” for Spoleto Festival USA, O’Hare questioned whether he was the right person for the job.
The Tony Award-winning actor, who also appears in the highly anticipated new Netflix series The Boroughs, was interested in the idea of writing a piece to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary despite his left-leaning politics. In fact, O’Hare moved to Europe during the 2016 election.
“I’m not the obvious choice for that,” O’Hare said. “I left the United States in 2016, and then Trump got elected. So I’m not necessarily the most gung-ho person to write about the 250th anniversary of this country. However, we took it as a challenge, and so we decided to write a comedy.”
“George and George,” which turns American history into a comedy of errors, marks the third production that O’Hare and Peterson have brought to Spoleto in recent years, following “An Iliad” in 2023 and “The Song of Rome” in 2024. This year, O’Hare is also premiering an additional play, “The Duchy.”
Set in the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, “George and George” depicts George Washington putting on a play to cheer up his demoralized troops through political satire and tongue-in-cheek comedy.
The staged reading will be performed May 28-31 at the Emmett Robinson Theatre.
“We’re living in a really weird time,” O’Hare said. “We’re living in a time where you can be censored, and you can be canceled, and you can lose your funding. You can lose your job for telling the truth. So you can either walk away from that or you can challenge it in a clever way. We’re challenging it in a clever way.”
Rather than presenting a straightforward historical depiction, O’Hare and Peterson chose to poke fun at the country today through the lens of a tale set nearly 250 years ago.
Spoleto producer Leah Hennessy described “George and George” as a departure from the previous works that O’Hare and Peterson have presented here.
“They are such a strong team, and Lisa is an incredible director,” said Hennessy. “Their collaborations are always very thoughtful. I think they push audiences to new possibilities. Whatever they’re going to take on, we’d love to see just what their slant is and where they’re going to take that audience.”
Hennessy has been involved with “George and George” since O’Hare and Peterson pitched it while the festival was planning ahead its American 250 programming.
“Denis had presented it to Mena Mark Hanna, our CEO,” she said. “And Mena was like, ‘I love this, but I’m not sure that it’s in celebration of the 250th. Maybe it’s a bit controversial. What else do you got?’ So Denis and Lisa were like, ‘Actually, in doing our research for “An Iliad” and “The Song of Rome,” we discovered this fact about Washington staging this play, and we’ve been intrigued by it.’”
Once O’Hare and Peterson received the go-ahead, they began preparing, writing and rehearsing with Hennessy.
“It’s been really great to work very closely with Denis and Lisa on this project,” she said. “I’ve seen the script evolve. It’s just been great to see their collaborative process and to weigh in on that and be in the room and see which laughs land.”
The concept of this play is backed by some true historical accuracy, which makes it all the more tongue-in-cheek. “The topic is based on a real historical event,” O’Hare said. “George Washington, 1777, Valley Forge, winter. They’ve lost Philadelphia. They’re losing the war. His men are starving. They got no clothes; they have no shoes. They have no place to really live. He decides the best thing to do is to put on a play to actually solve these problems and to inspire his men. This is true. He put on a play.”
O’Hare hopes the performance will make audiences think and laugh – and learn not to take themselves too seriously.
Hennessy echoed that sentiment, believing audiences will be left entertained and reflective.
“I think the really great thing about this show is that it encourages us as a country to have a bit of a laugh while also relishing in our revolutionary history,” she said. “In this story, you get the idea that the arts inspire. I mean, that’s the whole reason that Washington is putting this play on. And I think you get that from the story, but you also get to laugh in the midst of a festival that has a lot of gravitas.”
The team hopes audience members can find the humor in the play, Hennessy said.
“It’s nice to be rolling in the aisles, too.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO:
The entire run of “George and George” at the Emmett Robinson Theatre is sold out. However, the Charleston Visitor Center will host a free simulcast on Saturday, May 30, at 5 p.m.
Jordyn Britton is an arts journalism and communications graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
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