''Farragut North'' is the 2008 Off-Broadway debut play of playwright Beau Willimon, loosely based on former Governor

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...

's 2004 Democratic primary election campaign for U.S. President. The original script won the 2005 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest (a festival of new plays), where it was first produced, to rave reviews by critics and a warm response from audiences. The script has been published by

Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service (also known as The Play Service) is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house, established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives. DPS publishes English-language ...

. The play is billed as "a classic tale of hubris set against a contemporary landscape – about the lust for power and the costs one will endure to achieve it". It is titled after

Farragut North Farragut North station is an underground Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., on the Red Line. Farragut North serves downtown Washington and is located just north of Farragut Square. It lies at the heart of the business district on ...

, a Washington Metro station in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on the Red Line. Farragut North serves downtown Washington, D.C. and is located just north of

Farragut Square Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2 of the District of Columbia, Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street (Washington, D.C.), K Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and wes ...

, near

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was on ...

. Willimon, who worked for Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and former

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

and 2004 Democratic presidential primary election candidate Howard Dean, titled the play for the Metrorail station located nearest to D.C.'s geographic center for think tanks, lobbyists, and other advocacy groups. The play was presented by the

Atlantic Theatre Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their ac ...

at Linda Gross Theater in New York City with its world premiere on November 12, 2008, in the week after the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator f ...

. The production was directed by

Doug Hughes Douglas Hughes is an American theatre director. Early life Hughes is the son of acting couple Barnard Hughes (1915–2006) and Helen Stenborg. He attended Harvard University, starting as a biology major and graduating with a degree in English. C ...

and starred John Gallagher, Jr.,

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on '' Law & Order'' (1990–95), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

Olivia Thirlby Olivia Jo Thirlby (born October 6, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Leah in the comedy-drama film ''Juno'' (2007),Louie, Rebecca (June 28, 2008).Olivia Thirlby is smoking in 'The Wackness'". '' Daily News, location ...

, Kate Blumberg and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. The production ran from October 22, 2008 to November 29, 2008 with official opening on November 12. On June 24, 2009, the production transferred to Los Angeles'

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located ...

with Noth, Thirlby and Whitlock Jr. reprising their roles.

Chris Pine Chris Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–present), Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017) and '' Wo ...

joined the cast. Concurrently it received a production at the

Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) is an American annual professional theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. According to the New York Times (in 2015), it is one of "50 ''essential'' ...

at Shepherd University in July 2009.

London, United Kingdom Production

The play received its London premiere at the

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a ...

, opening on September 11, 2013. Produced by Peter Huntley, in association with Daniel Krupnik and Southwark Playhouse, and directed by Guy Unsworth, the production stars

Max Irons Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in films such as ''Red Riding Hood'' (2011), '' The White Queen'' (2013), '' The Host'' (2013), '' Woman in Gold'' (2014), ''Th ...

in the role of Stephen and

Rachel Tucker Rachel Kelly Tucker (born 29 May 1981) is a Northern Irish West End and Broadway actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the hit musical '' Wicked''. She most recently starred in Come from Away on Broadway, having originated the role ...

as Ida, and featured

Shaun Williamson Shaun Williamson (born 29 November 1965) is an English actor best known as Barry Evans in '' EastEnders'' and as a satirical version of himself in the BBC/ HBO sitcom '' Extras'', 'Barry off EastEnders'. Early life Williamson was born in Park ...

, Aysha Kala, Josh O'Connor, Alain Terzoli and Andrew Whipp. The production featured design by David Woodhead, lighting by Richard Howell, music by Jude Obermüller and sound design by Peter Malkin.

Film adaptation

The play has since been turned into an Oscar-nominated screenplay. The film, ''

The Ides of March The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several Religion in ancient Rome, religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling d ...

'', starred and directed by George Clooney and also starred Ryan Gosling, was released by Sony Pictures in October 2011.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120219113605/http://www.thedaytonplayhouse.com/index.php/ff-history
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120219113605/http://www.thedaytonplayhouse.com/index.php/ff-history {{Howard Dean Off-Broadway plays 2008 plays 2004 United States presidential election in popular culture Plays based on actual events Plays set in the United States Fiction set in 2004 Howard Dean American plays adapted into films