Silver Spring Stage Presents FROST/NIXON, Opening 4/5

Silver Spring Stage presents Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan, directed by Kevin O'Connell and produced by Devon Seybert, the engrossing dramatization of how the then-washed up talk-show host David Frost convinced the disgraced Richard Nixon to be interviewed for television. Frost/Nixon will perform weekends April 5 to April 27. Silver Spring Stage is excited to announce that Jim Reston, one of the team members that prepared David Frost for the historic Frost/Nixon interviews, will participate in a post-performance discussion on Sunday April 21.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors and students. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sundays April 14 and 21 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

Jim Reston, award-winning writer, is the author of 13 books, three plays, and numerous articles in national magazines. Reston is currently a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC and has been a fellow at the American Academy in Rome and a scholar in residence at the Library of Congress. He lives in Chevy Chase, MD. He was awarded the Prix Italia and the Dupont-Columbia Award for his 1983 90-minute radio documentary on National Public Radio, Father Cares: the Last of Jonestown. His talk is scheduled to start at 4:00 PM. He will also sign copies of his book The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews.

Frost/Nixon premiered in London in 2006 and opened on Broadway in 2007, where it won a Tony Award. The playwright Peter Morgan has made his reputation on contemporary historical pieces, such as the films The Queen and The Last King of Scotland. For Morgan, the journey to writing this gripping drama on power and reclamation started in 1994 (the year Richard Nixon died) when he saw a television profile on David Frost that barely mentioned the groundbreaking interviews. Recognizing the compelling nature of the story and its contemporary parallels, he researched the background with the interview team. He wrote: "Frost/Nixon became a play about journalistic ethics, the power of television, and the responsibility of the creative process. It was about the subjectivity of memory, the twilight differences between fact and fiction, truth and accuracy. I also saw in the 1977 interviews a series of challenges and provocative questions. Moral dilemmas." The tensions between truth and accuracy are played out in Frost/Nixon as a metaphorical boxing match between the two protagonists, who are actual mirrors of each other. Both needed the interviews to restore their prominence and legacy. The interviews began on March 23, 1977, and lasted 12 days. They were taped for two hours a day for a total of nearly 29 hours. In the end the interviews were a success. The premiere episode drew 45 million viewers, the largest television audience for a political interview in history - a record which still stands today. A Gallup poll conducted after the interviews aired showed that 69 percent of the public thought that Nixon was still trying to cover up, 72 percent still thought he was guilty of obstruction of justice, and 75 percent thought he deserved no further role in public life. Frost/Nixon successfully revives this memorable and fascinating moment in history.

Frost/Nixon opens in 1974 when British talk-show host David Frost (Brendan Murray), once a leading television personality, has been reduced to an interview show in Australia. Richard M. Nixon (Michael Kharfen) has just resigned the United States presidency in total disgrace over the Watergate scandal. Determined to resurrect his career, Frost risks everything on a series of in-depth interviews with Nixon. He enlists a crack team of journalists and researchers - John Birt (Chris Tully), Jim Reston (David Dieudonne), Bob Zelnick (Jack Scheer) - to prepare for the interviews and extract from Nixon the never obtained apology. Nixon, assisted by his chief of staff Jack Brennan (Kevin Dykstra), is equally bent on redeeming himself in the nation's eyes. For 12 days in March 1977, the two spar on camera to determine who will return to the limelight. The result is the interview that sealed a president's legacy.

Also featured in the cast are Diana Partridge, Mike Goll, Erica Smith, Gary Sullivan, and Peter Orvetti. The production team includes Pam Burks (Stage Manager), Jamie Coupar (Sound Design), Peter Caress (Light Design), and Crystal Ferguson (Costume Design).

Silver Spring Stage continues its 2012-2013 season with The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane (May 17-Jun 8), and Red Herring by Michael Hollinger (Jun 28-Jul 27).
Silver Spring Stage has provided quality, affordable theatre for over 40 years. We are an all-volunteer, non- profit organization and appreciate any contribution to enable us to offer excellent and entertaining productions. Thank you for your interest and support of Silver Spring Stage. All programs at Silver Spring Stage are made possible in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.

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