Review: FATHERLAND at The Fountain Theatre

FATHERLAND, a world premiere at The Fountain Theatre, is a blistering reminder of the January 6 riots at the U.S. capitol and how an ordinary man can descend into cult-like obsession and madness. Based verbatim on official court transcripts, case evidence, and public statements, the script strings together the events of one family from Wylie, Texas, Patrick Keleher playing The Son, a 19-year-old political science major, who spends the majority of the play relating his experiences to the U.S. District Attorney (Anna Khaja) in a courtroom while his Father (Ron Bottitta) is on trial for his part in “lighting the match” that sparked the insurrection.

The Son recounts how his father morphed from a good-hearted family man into a hysterical conspiracy theorist once he lost his job as an oil worker. He needed focus — and someone to blame, in addition to tell him what to think — and he found that focus in Donald Trump’s call to arms to attack the Capitol. And like most bullies, his true cowardice is revealed once he gets home and realizes the trouble he’s in — and that his son is the one who turned him in. It seems to be a pretty open-and-shut case until the cross-examination starts with the U.S. Defense Attorney (Larry Poindexter).

Based on the case of Guy Reffitt, who was the first defendant to stand trial for the mutiny, FATHERLAND is rife with family drama as well as delirious paranoia leading up to that disturbing, horrifying day. Conceived and directed by The Fountain Theatre’s artistic director, Stephen Sachs, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle– and Ovation Award–winning director, the show uses sound (courtesy sound designer Stewart Blackwood) to great success with alarming effects in addition to recorded audio of the former president and news reports from and about that day.

The scenic design by Joel Daavid is austere, like a prison — representing where the Father may be headed and also the prison he’s already living in in his head — made up of gray and green pillars with just two wood tables and three wood chairs. As the Father sinks deeper into the morass of propaganda, lighting designer Alison Brummer amps up his lunacy visually, creating an unsettling atmosphere. Sachs derives committed performances from his actors and makes good use of the space, generating action and movement within the confines of recorded testimony.

The result is an unsettling reminder of how an average person can tip from sane to insane all in the name of good ol’ American patriotism, crossing ethical, moral, and legal lines with nary a hesitation. The fact that this is an election year adds to the shrill anxiety FATHERLAND instills, knowing that plenty of Yanks already swallowed the Kool-Aid and are happy to do so again. The 70-minute show is the closest we want to get to that first month in 2020 again, though that is far from assured.

FATHERLAND is performed at The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Avenue, through March 30. Tickets are available at (323) 663-1525 or www.FountainTheatre.com.

Photos by Jenny Graham

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