‘Founding F%!#ers’ puts new face on a revolution

By Rich Fahey

STONEHAM – We live in an area where history is everywhere you look. And recently history really took over as the 250^th anniversary of battles, midnight rides and other events that together became the beginning of the American Revolution were all over the media. Heck, the town of Stoneham itself is 300 years old.  

But, as the late, great newsman Paul Harvey often asked, do you know the story behind the story?

In Conor Casey’s madcap historical mash-up “Founding F%!#ers,” subtitled “The Story of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold,” the playwright conjures up what might have happened in the relationship between two key figures who were part of important Colonial successes in the early days of the revolution.

Allen’s and Arnold’s paths converged often, particularly in the stunning capture of   Fort Ticonderoga from the British in May 1775. While both men played crucial roles in the capture, their relationship was marked by tension and disagreements over leadership and command.  Allen’s Green Mountain Boys were rough around the edges and enjoyed a good time, while Arnold, a West Point grad, found them wanting and undisciplined.

Playwright Casey gleefully rearranges history and Director Weylin Symes has liberally employed cross-gender casting, but this is no turn-over-the-table recounting of Allen’s and Arnold’s exploits.

That means the indomitable Marge Dunn gets her chance to state the case for Benedict Arnold, whose distinguished military career ended in ruins and whose very name came to stand for the word traitor. We see his frustration at never getting credit for the courage and ingenuity he displayed in battle.

 

The old saw goes “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend” may refer to Ethan Allen (William Johnston), leader of the Vermont militia the Green Mountain Boys. formed to protect the Vermont territory from incursions by New Yorkers and to push for statehood for the territory.  They proved their worth in several early battles and eventually were integrated into the Continental Army.  Liz Dumaine plays Allen’s cousin Seth Warner and Symes has some fun in casting the fully-bearded Jeff Mitchell as Rosie the waitress.

Both Arnold and Allen were involved in an attempted invasion of Canada, and Allen was taken prisoner by the British and imprisoned from September 1775 to May 1778

Suffice it to say this is not your average history lesson and there are times when I’m not really sure where Casey is going, because much of Act I is farcical and then comes Act II, in which the narrative is much more straightforward.

Will McGarrahan has been a welcome presence on area stages for many years now and here he serves as the narrator in Act I to bring us into the piece before jumping into the action to play British Major John Andre in Act II.

There’s a fine turn by Jenny S. Lee as Peggy Shippen, Arnold’s second wife who is described as “the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution” and who leads Arnold into the conspiracy with Andre to leave West Point vulnerable to a British attack.

There are some fun recurring comic bits such as Stewart Evan Smith and Jules Talbot as British soldiers who endure a series of indignities, including braving icy  snowballs at the Boston Massacre; they are also on hand to surrender Fort Ticonderoga to Arnold and Allen.

Several other of the Founding Fathers – Washington, John Adams and even Alexander Hamilton – find their way into the piece.

GBSC’s Don Fulton New Works Project commissions and produces new works sch as this one, and the theater has been true to the mission by fully mounting and staging the works and employing strong casts, designers and directors to put the best possible face on the work.

In program notes, Director Symes said presenting a world premiere work each season “is a huge financial risk” but “part of the job of theatre is to speak to what is happening in the world and reflect it back to us.” He said this piece “reminds us that our founding fathers were just as divided, frustrated, maddening and occasionally inspiring as our leaders today.”

The one-liners and sight gags come fast and furious but when it comes to farce and especially new works, the author and cast really have no idea what works and what doesn’t until they get it in front of an audience. When they do, the laughs may come fast and furious. But when they don’t…

“Founding F%!#ers” has its moments, but at the end of the evening I still wasn’t sure just what exactly it was trying to be.

The Greater Boston Stage Company production of “Founding F%!#ers,” by Conor Casey. Directed by Weylin Symes. Tickets: Greaterbostonstage.org or calling (781) 279-2200.