George + George

In April of 2025, Mena Mark Hanna, the artistic director of the Spoleto International Festival in Charleston, South Carolina called me up and said, “Hey - can you guys write me something for the 250th anniversary of the United States next year? Oh, and it can’t be polemical!”

We said yes immediately and then scratched out heads - trying to figure out how to be true to our radical lefty selves without incurring the wrath of the anti-woke warriors in Washington. The answer: COMEDY! And what better subject than something that actually happened. For the truth is that in 1777, when General George Washington was desperate to cheer up his troops, he hit upon an unorthodox idea: To put on a play.

George + George is based on this true event but with a little bit of goosing. And it’s a comedy so things get pretty wild. Betsy Ross shows up of course as well as the Marquis de Lafayette. And it wouldn’t be funny without that laugh-riot Benedict Arnold.

It’s Noises Off meets Waiting for Guffman - all set in the bleak winter of 1777.