This play is in-tents
It was Christmas Eve, 1893. Henry Ford, with the help of his wife Clara, tested his first gasoline engine. Though the engine only ran for about 30 seconds, the seed was planted for the first American car company and Ford, famous for both inventions and missteps, became one of the most recognizable names of the 20th Century.
The next production by Lincoln City’s Theatre West, “Camping with Henry and Tom,” opening on Thursday, Jan. 5, is set during a 1921 camping trip taken by Ford, Thomas Edison and President Warren Harding.
First-time Theatre West director T. Sean Prescott leads the cast through a play saturated with folksy charm and old-fashioned humor. Though the play is a work of fiction, author Mark St. Germain based the script on documented quotes and biographies to paint a realistic and far-from-sugarcoated picture of the trio, whose private personas often differed from the exemplary personalities known to the public.
An easy-going satire of politics and history, it’s also an interesting exploration of the human, i.e., flawed, side of these three figures.
The cast is John Jeans as Ford, Patrick Kiernan as Edison, Frank Ward as Harding and Scott Christianson as Colonel Edmund Starling.
Set in a Maryland campground, Edison, Ford and Harding are isolated in a remote clearing, where they’ve been stranded following a minor car accident. There, the three attempt to kill time with pleasant conversation while they await rescue. What ensues, however, is a series of gibes and heated debates as personalities and personal agendas clash in unexpected ways, and fun is poked at political shenanigans, romantic indiscretions and the good and bad sides of ambition.
The play begins at 7:30 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through Jan. 28, with a single matinée performance at 2 pm on Saturday, Jan. 15. Tickets are
$20 for adults, $18 for seniors 60 and older and $12 for students 11 and younger.
Theatre West is located at 3536 SE Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City.
For more information, go to theatrewest.com or call 541-994-5663.