44 Playwright for 44 Presidents - Grain of Sand

Raising Cane. Carl Brandt Long and Matthew Ward. Photo by Johnny Shryock

Hamlet: Reframed. John Stange, Sara Bickler, and Pamela Leahigh. Photo by Greg Velichansky.

King Leir (staged reading) David Winkler, Jack Powers, and Kelsey Meiklejohn. Photo by Greg Velichansky

Ahead of the 44 Plays for 44 Presidents event on Monday, October 29th, I had a chance to connect with Carl Brandt Long of Grain of Sand Theatre. Here's our conversation:

Jacqueline Lawton: How did your company form and how long have you been presenting work in D.C.?
Carl Long: Two actors and a director were discussing Hamlet over drinks and the second story in it – the political story behind the revenge tragedy.  The conversation turned into Hamlet: Reframed at the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival, and we’ve been growing ever since.

JL: What impact do you hope to make in the D.C. theatre community?
CL: Our goal is to make high quality, engaging, and thought-provoking work that highlights use of language and storytelling, with a modest budget. 

JL: Is political theatre important to you?
CL: We feel that political theatre is valuable for the community, especially in DC.  Though politics informs many of the stories Grain of Sand tells, we don't consider ourselves political theatre company, since we don't have a political or social agenda.

JL: Why did you decide to participate in 44 Plays for 44 Presidents?
CL: We like collaborating with other people and other theatre companies, and the resulting energy in the room when a bunch of creative people play together.  New faces and new ideas are very inspiring.  We also like discovering new perspectives on familiar stories – in this case, the way the script features different storytelling methods for each president.

JL: Which presidents are you featuring? What’s their political affiliation and campaign slogan?
CL: We’re featuring:

• Franklin Pierce (D – “We Polked you in 1844; we shall Pierce you in 1852!”)
• Eisenhower (R – “I Like Ike”)
• Ford (R – not applicable)

JL: What’s something interesting we should know about them?
CL: Here are a few things:

• Pierce didn’t make his political views known, especially on the subject of slavery.  Consequently, he didn’t make enemies, and was nominated as a compromise among Democratic factions.
• Eisenhower painted 260 portraits and landscapes as a way to relax during the last 20 years of his life.
• Gerald Ford, despite being a strong supporter of music education, was one of only two presidents not to own a piano.

JL: Did any of them support the arts while in office? If so, how?
CL: I’m not sure about Pierce and Eisenhower’s public support while in office.

• Pierce was lifelong friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who jumped at the chance to write Pierce’s political biography (a popular campaign tool at the time), despite being at the height of his literary career.
• Eisenhower was an avid painter, though despised modern art.
• Ford signed a number of bills to provide federal funding for the arts.  He wrote: “I firmly believe that, in order to inspire the people’s pride in their Government, we must provide them with manifest evidence of its vitality, cre­ativity and efficiency by setting the highest standard in architectur­al design, environmental planning and visual communication.” 

JL: If he was running for office this year, would you vote for him? Why or why not?
CL: No to all three.  Pierce was willing to say whatever would please the crowd, and I’m not a fan of Eisenhower’s or Ford’s foreign policy.

JL: In addition to 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, what’s next for your company?
CL: Grain of Sand’s production of You Can’t Get a Decent Margarita at the North Pole begins on November 29 and runs through December 23 at The Shop at Fort Fringe.  See our website for more information!