Saw a wonderful play this afternoon at Keegan Theatre Company in DuPont Circle in the District. "Lincolnesque" is a farce played with brilliant irony at times, laugh out loud moments, and even a little pathos. It's set in the fictional re-election campaign of a congressional dullard and the key to his success lies the political transformation that is orchestrated by his speechwrite, campaign director and the speechwriter psychotic (but loveable) brother who thinks he is Abraham Lincoln. The writing is perfect. The right amount of heavy with a lot of tongue in cheek plausibility. It's played by for principals and I was already a fan of three of them from previous work. All were strong and compelling in their performances. However a special appreciation is offered for Brandon McCoy in the role of Francis/Abe Lincoln. The sets were simple and very effective in conveying quick, recognizable scene changes and the lighting and special effects of projecting the typing out of a quote across the top of one of the set pieces and the crew veiled in darkness shifted out the few movable pieces. I believe the playwright is local. I sure do hope that this production gets picked up and has the life in regional professional theatres that it richly deserves.
Brandon McCoy as Francis
McCoy with Michael Innocenti as Leo
Innocenti with Susan Marie Rhea as Carla
McCoy with Stan Shulman who played dual roles as The Secretary of War and Harold Daly
Rhea and McCoy
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