About the Play
Production photos by Maria Baranova © 2023
Tony Award winner John Rubinstein (Pippin, Children of a Lesser God) stars as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, a new American play by Richard Hellesen and directed by Peter Ellenstein.
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Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is a candid and fascinating fictional eavesdropping on President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm.
It is 1962 and The New York Times Magazine has published its first list ranking the American Presidents in order of greatness.
Pondering his placement on the list, Eisenhower looks back on his life - his Kansas upbringing, his decorated Army career, his victories in World War II, and his two terms as President – contemplating the qualities and adversities that make an American President great.
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Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is adapted from a vast array of General Eisenhower's memoirs, speeches, and letters.
Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground premiered in October-November, 2022, co-produced by Theatre West in Los Angeles. Then extended at the Hudson Theatre Mainstage in December 2022-January 2023. It premiered Off-Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clements in June, 2023, extending twice through October, 2023. The show was moved to Columbia University's Miller Theatre for a "command" performance fo the Council on Foreign Relations in Nov. 2023. It concluded an extended run at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA March, 2024. The play is now booking venues and touring the United States.