JACKIE at Charles W. Eisemann Center

Actor/Playwright Tom Dugan’s new play, JACKIE received rave reviews when it debuted in Los Angeles in 2020.

In JACKIE, actor Kait Haire portrays former First Lady Jackie Kennedy in a powerful and revealing narrative that begins on June 5, 1968, when she receives word of her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy’s assassination. Set in her 5th Avenue New York City apartment, the audience takes a journey with a distressed Jackie who’s wondering how she could possibly live through another great loss. She contemplates a course of action that would greatly surprise most Americans. The play’s journey sheds light on the profound emotional and mental anguish that nearly pushed her to the brink.

Playwright Tom Dugan dove deep into Jacqueline Kennedy’s life history in order to stay true to the woman portrayed in JACKIE. “I discovered new information that was only recently released to the public,” he says.  “And I came to understand that Jackie had a powerful sexuality she used to manipulate the media, the public, and the people in her life. Kait Haire has that same alluring charisma – her Jackie is compelling, real, and seductive.

Authors

• Elfriede Jelinek
• Gip Hoppe