After 34 years as artistic director, Fountain Theatre cofounder Stephen Sachs has announced his retirement at the end of 2024.
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Box Office:
323-663-1525
Show Days: 11 - Curtain
Dark Days: 11 - 6pm
Closed Tuesday
Fridays & Saturdays 8pm
Sundays 2pm
Pay What You Want Mondays 8pm
Running Time: 75 minutes (no intermission)
FATHERLAND
conceived and directed by Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs
EXTENDED THRU MAY 26TH!
(please note: there are no performances on 4/14, 4/19, 4/20, 4/21, 4/22, 4/28, and 5/12)
OVER A DOZEN RAVE REVIEWS!
RAVE! - Los Angeles Times - “POWERFUL - The production, conceived and directed by Sachs, unleashes the power of well-crafted documentary theater … has elements of a modern-day Sophoclean tragedy … a conflict that is at once private and public, domestic and national … “Fatherland” will leave you shaken. As a work of political theater, it’s a trenchant cautionary tale about the threat posed by extremist groups. As a family drama, it brings the story of America’s polarization into the kitchen, living room and backyard … ‘Fatherland,’ written in a white heat for this election season, is defending democracy from the stage.” - Charles McNulty
RAVE! - StageSceneLA - “WOW! Words like RIVETING and gut-wrenching only begin to describe Stephen Sachs’ ripped-from-the-headlines World Premiere docudrama Fatherland and the performances delivered at The Fountain Theatre ... SEVENTY OF THE MOST ELECTRIFYING MINUTES OF LIVE THEATER YOU’RE LIKELY TO SEE ALL YEAR, with director Sachs eliciting two of the year’s most stunning dramatic turns from his electrifying leads. Bottitta once again proves himself the most shape-shifting of L.A. stage stars, the urbane Brit managing by some miraculous alchemy to vanish inside this righteous, radical, rabble-rouser … And though Keleher is less than a year out of college, the charismatic Carbondale, Coloradan proves himself an actor with more than enough power and punch to go head to head with a master, the duo’s confrontations among the most explosive and heartrending you’ll see all year … Adeptly avoiding any trace of polemics by letting its characters’ own words speak for themselves, Fatherland is Los Angeles theater at its most presidential-election-year powerful." - Steven Stanley
RAVE! - StageRaw - “A STUNNING AND IMPORTANT WORK … As conceived and directed by Stephen Sachs, Fatherland SEAMLESSLY AND MASTERFULLY blends the political with the personal … What makes the play particularly effective is that nobody is portrayed as a hero or a villain. Even more impactful is the opportunity to observe how a seemingly ordinary, even loving, family man can become seduced by beliefs that lead to actions which threaten our way of life … The story is particularly relevant now, when we are such a deeply divided population, with factions that threaten our democracy and the specter of fascism waiting in the wings … the performances are all first-rate… STAGE RAW TOP 10 … RECOMMENDED.” - Iris Mann
RAVE! - Ticket Holders LA - “BRILLIANT AND PERFECTLY SEAMLESS … arresting and highly polished playmaking … Ron Bottitta, is nothing short of magnificent [a true master craftsman] … [Patrick Keleher’s] performance is a gripping, amazingly multi-layered thing of wonder … Bottitta and Keleher are nothing short of mesmerizing … RIVETING!” — Travis Holder
RAVE! - BroadwayWorld - “BLISTERING… Sachs derives committed performances from his actors and makes good use of the space, generating action and movement within the confines of recorded testimony … an unsettling reminder of how an average person can tip from sane to insane all in the name of good ol’ American patriotism, crossing ethical, moral, and legal lines with nary a hesitation.” — Harker Jones
RAVE! - Discover Hollywood - "OUTSTANDING! … NOT TO BE MISSED! … Extremely powerful and effective ... Outstanding creative team … The strong cast provides high tension ... a strong, strong play!" - Amalisha HuEck
RAVE! - Hollywood Progressive - “BRILLIANT… RIVETING … both sharply specific and universal … The gradual decay of their father-and-son loving relationship into the harshest of divides rings painfully true, forming the emotional core of this moving play … [A] MASTERPIECE.”— Dick Price, Sharon Kyle and Linnea Friberg-Price
RAVE! - Hollywood Times - “INSIGHTFUL AND TIMELY ... a heart-rending glimpse into the mind of a disturbed man who is driven to extreme actions ... this play hits hard at the dangerous divide in political ideology that seems to be tearing this country apart … a play that reveals how loving families can be torn apart by disparate views of how government is and should work, and how the law conflicts with deeper familial bonds.” - Robert St. Martin
RAVE! - Angeles Stage - “EXCITING … REMARKABLY DRAMATIC … I appreciated the in-your-face performances a few feet away from my seat.” - Don Shirley
RAVE! - Larchmont Buzz - “A POWERFUL PIECE OF THEATER that adds detail and nuance to the news coverage of a son who put his country before his father. Fatherland, cleverly designed around the spine of the court hearing, shows off the talents of father and son (unnamed in the play) Ron Bottitta and Patrick Keleher. Both give strong, emotional performances … One can only hope that Fatherland is performed years from now to an audience to learn that this kind of thing could happen in America. For now, it’s a history lesson whose era is measured in months, not centuries.” - Laura Foti Cohen
WFMU Radio - “RIVETING … UNIQUE … the performances are outstanding … the Fountain Theatre does intimate theater in a thrilling way … Go out and see Fatherland.” - Bob Barth
RAVE! - Splash Magazine & Century City/Westwood News - “AN OUTSTANDING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE... A Riveting Portrayal of the Trial of a January 6 Insurrectionist … inventive, immaculate direction … EXPLOSIVE ... HAIR-RAISING ... a cautionary tale of the danger that could lie ahead for our country.” - Beverly Cohn
RAVE! - Culver City News - “POWERFUL … The always brilliant character actor Ron Bottitta commands the stage … [Got] the hair on my neck to stand straight up.” — Shari Barrett
ShowMag.com - "CHILLING ... It’s almost like being there! … A riveting performance and a timely story that serves as a warning for our next election cycle." - Leigh Kennicott
RAVE! - The World Through Tinted Glasses - "THE PERFORMANCES ARE NOTHING LESS THAN STELLAR ... The focus here remained utterly and precisely on the human and humane parts of this tragedy … emotionally eviscerating." - Zahir Blue
TVolution - "THE CASTING IS SUPERLATIVE ... Bottitta and Keleher capture the grief of the father and son who are losing themselves and each other in the torrents of a historical tsunami ... RIVETING." - Ernest Kearney
RAVE! - OnStageLosAngeles - “A MUST SEE EVENT. It surpasses what we call Theatre to hear the actual words of the participants ... AN EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTION." - Michael Sheehan
Stage and Cinema - “TIMELY, CLEVERLY CRAFTED [AND] WELL-EXECUTED... Fatherland, based on [this] true story, is at once a courtroom thriller and a family drama with shades of political documentary … deftly woven into A GRIPPING NARRATIVE by conceiver/director Stephen Sachs, who calls his piece ‘a shout of warning in this election year’ … offers a glimpse into the intimate worlds of two individuals who got carried away by a powerful current of sociopolitical forces.” - Christopher Lloyd Bratten
RAVE! - 2 Urban Girls - "A PROFOUND PIECE OF ART ... Over 70 minutes, you become entranced in a son who looked at his father as a hero but is forced to reckon with his growing admiration for former President Donald Trump, Newsmax and his plans to ‘stop the steal’ … ALL OF THE ACTORS DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB.” - Emilie St. John
RAVE! - Splash Magazine - “A MILESTONE OF EXCELLENCE … Greek Tragedy Circa 2024 … Skillfully helmed by Sachs, FATHERLAND presents a profoundly thought-provoking scenario … THE POWERFUL CAST SHINES … FATHERLAND pinpoints the controversial and often confusing beliefs which are rampant in today’s world. This is A TIMELY AND EXCITING PLAY which will nudge people into taking a careful look at what matters in the confrontational world of 2024. At the same time, it is an intimate study of how larger political views can have ramifications for the closest of relationships. FATHERLAND is A PROVOCATIVE MUST-SEE PLAY which examines today’s often two-dimensional climate, a climate which has the potential for violent outcomes.” — Elaine Mura
(There will be a Talkback on Saturday, March 16th, following the performance, with writer/director Stephen Sachs and Kfir Lapid-Mashall, Reviews Editor, Performance Research Journal and doctoral student specializing in verbatim theater.)
(THIS PRODUCTION INCLUDES FLASHING LIGHTS, DISPLAY OF FIREARMS, LOUD EXPLOSIONS, AND STRONG ADULT LANGUAGE)
executive producer Barbara Herman
producers Dr. Robert G. Meadow & Carrie Menkel Meadow
producing underwriters Laurel & Robert Silton
produced by The Fountain Theatre
starring Ron Bottitta, Patrick Keleher, Anna Khaja & Larry Poindexter
"The heartbreaking family tragedy at the center of the true story, FATHERLAND, is a brilliant window on the staggering human costs of the rise of fascism and the assault on democracy in America."
- Robert Schenkkan (Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright)
A nation watches as a 19-year-old son faces the hardest day in his life. After turning his father in to the FBI, the son must now testify against his dad for his part in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. The riveting true story that grabbed headlines is now a powerful family drama. Fatherland erupts verbatim from official court transcripts, case evidence, and public statements.
Los Angeles Times Review/Article
TruthDig.com Interview with Stephen Sachs
Park La Brea News/Beverly Press Announcement
Box Office:
323-663-1525
Show Days: 11 - Curtain
Dark Days: 11 - 6pm
Closed Tuesday
Previews Feb 22-24
Opens Feb 25 7pm
Closes May 26 2pm
Fridays & Saturdays 8pm
Sundays 2pm
Pay What You Want Mondays 8pm
Running Time: 75 minutes (no intermission)
Scenic Design - Joel Daavid
Lighting Design - Alison Brummer
Sound Design - Stewart Blackwood
Costume Design - Danyele Thomas
Prop Design - Jenine MacDonald
Production Stage Manager - Sati Thyme
Alternate Stage Manager - Hannah Raymond