Thank you so very much for attending our Fall 2022 production of the adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here. We are very excited to have you here, and our students are eager to share their work with you!
It should be noted that originally, we were planning on either a children’s theatre production about pirates, or the often-banned book, “The Diary of Anne Frank.” However, when I asked for input from the students, it was clear they wanted something timelier and something with more than 10 roles available. Accordingly, I sought a script to meet the interests and demands of the students, and that brought us to It Can’t Happen Here.
This adaptation of the 1936 script was published in 2016. The original story warned of the impending storm of fascism taking over a country still suffering the effects of a global and domestic economic depression, and the complete devastation of Europe from similar grips of gloom, graft, and terror. At the time many were worried about government overreach, court packing, and the possibility of Huey Long using aggression and his populist followers to usher himself into office, seeking unlimited power, of which some were accusing Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, our leaders, respected journalists, and political pundits expound very real threats of fascism and political skullduggery locally and around the globe. We are told there is an ever-present threat of the aforementioned concerns on cable news channels and myriad corners of the political sphere.
Of course, there is evidence for worry all around the globe. Right now, in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro and Lula are locked in a run-off election where both are already seeking legal remedies toward accusations of voter fraud and election tampering before the next vote has even taken place. Around the United States court cases and legal posturing are occurring with unfounded allegations similar to those in Brazil. And in Europe, from Turkey to Hungary, Ukraine to Russia to Poland, heck, even in the United Kingdom there is political and economic insecurity. The U.K. has had three Prime Ministers and two Sovereigns in the last 6 months. The stock market, as some have described, has been tanking, and of course there is a global recession on the heels of a global panic. Much of our current situation around the world is eerily reminiscent of a time 80-100 years ago, events which surrounded (contributed to?) human and political disaster. I wonder what General Smedley Butler (google him and “the business plot”) would think about our current state of affairs.
The 22-23 school year’s productions are planned around our Theatre Department educational goal of focusing on performance learning, knowledge, student growth, and overall opportunities for students to learn something new. Sometimes the focus of a play or musical is pure entertainment, ticket sales, or receiving top marks from a judge or critic as part of a competition. However, this year the Theatre Department is rallying around the TRHS banner language of Unity, Integrity, Excellence, and Equity.
Apocryphal though it may be, I leave you with the supposed question of John Adams to Ben Franklin upon being asked what has been given to the people of the United States with the success of the Constitutional Convention: “What have you given us, sir?” “A democratic republic, if you can keep it!”
Micheal Davenport
