An IPI-WCP Collaboration

The Originalist

by John Strand, starring Edward Gero

April 25, 2015 at 2 p.m. at Arena Stage

and

Artistic and Psychoanalytic Approaches to Understanding Character and Conflict

Post-Show Discussion by Edward Gero and Jill Savege Scharff

The International Psychotherapy Institute (IPI-Metro) and the Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Theater program of the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis (WCP) are co-sponsoring a post-show discussion after the April 25 matinee performance of The Originalist at Arena Stage in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, starring four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero (CC ‘97) as one of America’s most brilliant and polarizing figures: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The Originalist, a daring new work about passionate people risking heart and soul to defend their version of the truth, is by John Strand whose work Lovers and Executioners at Arena Stage won the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play.  The Originalist promises no less.  In The Originalist a bright, liberal, Harvard Law School graduate embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Scalia, an infuriating sparring partner and an unexpected mentor.  How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation’s highest court?  

John Strand

John Strand says of Scalia as a character: “He has intrigued me for a long time because he's kind of a lightning rod.  Half the country thinks of him as a monster and half thinks of him as a hero.  I love to explore why that is. And how can you resist a character who's a brilliant jurist and also a showman at heart?” 

WCP members may prefer to buy their tickets individually or may purchase seats for this performance at a discounted group rate secured by IPI: $75 per person if paid by March 13, 2015.  (Individual tickets would cost $90).  Late reservations may be accepted but may involve a slight increase due to Arena Stage’s dynamic pricing.  Please reserve by sending your check to annainnes@theipi.org.  Following Arena Stage policy, IPI is unable to give any refund or exchange after purchase is made.

Robert Fenton and Rosa Aurora Chavez Eakle, Co-Chairs, Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Theatre program, WCP
Jill Scharff,  Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Theatre program, WCP and IPI-Metro