Unhappy campers
Historical heavyweights go wild in Lincoln City
If you’ve ever wondered if famous people are nice to each other when no one else is around to watch, the current production by Lincoln City’s Theatre West, “Camping with Henry and Tom” plays on the premise that they mostly aren’t.
Set in 1921, the play puts Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and President Warren Harding in a remote clearing, where they’ve been stranded following a minor car accident on the way to a camping trip. 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.
Harding, who served for only two years before his death, was a popular president but a flawed man. The fact that his wife was, for a short time, suspected of having a hand in his death is no surprise when one learns he had at least two extramarital affairs, one that lasted 15 years and another that produced a child. Facts like this are revealed as the men react to each other under the pressure of being stranded together.
First-time Theatre West director T. Sean Prescott leads the cast, John Jeans as Ford, Patrick Kiernan as Edison, Frank Ward as Harding and Scott Christianson as Colonel Edmund Starling. Each embodies their character admirably, with Kiernan’s facial expressions in particular providing welcome comedic relief in scenes that could sometimes become uncomfortable. Ward and Jeans turn in nuanced performances as Harding and Ford, lending a weight and realism to a play that offers both gravitas and giggles.
Though the play is a work of fiction, author Mark St. Germain based the script on documented quotes and biographies to paint a realistic picture of the trio, whose private personas often differed from the exemplary personalities known to the public.
The lovely set creates a cozy backdrop that almost welcomes the audience to pull up a rock and join in as the men trade secrets and jokes.
American Theatre Magazine named St. Germain one of the top 20 most-produced playwrights in 2015 and 2016 and Playbill called him “The man who may be America’s premier biographical playwright.” For “Camping with Henry and Tom,” he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play.
He has written other plays featuring some of history’s most famous figures, bringing to life such characters as Doctor Ruth, Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt.
In “Camping with Henry and Tom,” he has created characters all too real, laying bare the scandals, inadequacies and weakness that underlie the legacies of some of history's most recognizable names.
If St. Germain’s goal was to bring these characters to life, Theatre West has surely delivered.
Performances start at 7:30 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through January 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