Long Wharf Theatre Finishes 50th Season With Joe DiPietro's THE SECOND MRS. WILSON Premiere, Beginning Tonight

Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, concludes its 50th anniversary season with the world premiere of The Second Mrs. Wilson by Joe DiPietro. The show runs from tonight, May 6 through May 31, 2015 on the Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage. The press opening is Wednesday, May 13 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25-$75.

The production is directed by Gordon Edelstein. The cast includes Fred Applegate (Secretary Joe Tumulty), Margaret Colin (Edith Wilson), John Glover (President Woodrow Wilson), Harry Groener (Colonel Edward House), Stephen Barker Turner (Dr. Cary Grayson), and Steve Routman (Vice President Thomas Marshall).

The creative team includes Alexander Dodge (sets), Linda Cho (costumes), Christopher Akerlind (lights), and John Gromada (sound). The stage manager is Peter Van Dyke.

Edith Wilson finds herself a woman in a man's world when she marries recently widowed President Woodrow Wilson. A circle of congressmen, cabinet members and other Old Boys surround the couple, disapproving in equal measure of their love and their refusal to compromise. When Wilson falls ill, Edith, with effortless ease, maneuvers her way around the White House, outsmarting the men who would derail her beloved Woodrow's dream of world peace. Will her unstinting devotion be their downfall? The Second Mrs. Wilson is the stylish and romantic recounting of the real life incident when a woman became the de facto president of the United States.

"This is an astonishing story of a woman's victory in a world run by men. For many months, First Lady Edith Wilson ran the country. Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated by stroke, the aftermath of World War I plagued Europe, and the League of Nations was in jeopardy. Through her wit, intelligence, and political savvy, she surprised everyone around her," Edelstein said.

DiPietro, a self-avowed political junkie, was reading a story about Hillary Clinton's possible presidential run in which the reporter dropped a tiny off-handed remark - Clinton would be the first female president of the United States, if you didn't count Edith Wilson. "I read that and thought 'Wait, what?" he said.

In 1919, upon returning from the Paris Peace Conference, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. According to a White House official history, Edith "took over many routine duties and details of government." The history is a bit more complex than the White House record would indicate.

"I didn't know the full story of Woodrow Wilson's second wife's participation ... I'd never seen an exploration of that and I thought that this was a great piece of untold American history," DiPietro said. "It is a shocking story in this day and age," he said.

Inspired by the English tradition of history plays, DiPietro decided Edith Wilson's story was worthy of dramatization. "I just love working on history plays. I love bringing a dramatist's sharpness and wit to it. I like making history lively and relevant, and show the humanity of the participants. I just love it," he said.

He immersed himself in the time period, reading biographies of Wilson and her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, and histories of the tumultuous period following World War I. He viewed documentaries. DiPietro knew the process would be a lengthy one. "My belief is research, research, research, then put it away and start writing the play," DiPietro said.

DiPietro took some creative license with the material, conflating some historical figures, for example. He believes that some history plays can get so dense that the humanity at the center of the work can be lost. "It is not a documentary. It is my dramatic interpretation, but it sticks very closely to the facts. I wanted to show what it was like to be a strong, shrewd woman at a time when women couldn't yet vote in every state," he said.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.

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