The most famous [deceased] First Ladies are having a hard time accepting the Trump presidency.

Why should they be any different than the rest of us?

But what can they do about it?

After all, they’re dead!

If you think that world affairs stop being important after you shake off this mortal coil, you would be wrong. Janine Sternlieb and Lennie Dean masterfully tell us otherwise with their new play, First Ladies and the Big White Lie.

The disturbing and unprecedented events unfolding in DC, in Charlottesville, and at the border, have reached the great beyond and now the spirits of the powers behind the American “throne” must confront the secrets and deceptions that have hindered America’s march toward a truly democratic society.

This intriguing new play — directed by stage artist and political commentator, Marcello Rollando — will have a special industry presentation, March 7 @ 2:00 p.m. and March 8 @ 6:00 p.m. at one of New York’s arts epicenters, Open Jar Studios, 1601 Broadway 11th floor, New York City. Contact info@jaymichaelsarts.com for reservations or further info.

We had our own “congressional hearing” with the authors of this envelope pushing piece to learn more about them and their work.

Janine Sternlieb has been an assistant director in Bay Area productions at theatres such as San Francisco Playhouse, Main Stage West, and Santa Rosa Jr. College.  Previous writing work includes The Four Sisters or Time’s Up!:  a Chekhovian Guide to Climate Change. When Covid closed the theatres, she began to imagine what the Founding Families would think of the Trump administration. So here she is! Lennie Dean, after receiving her MFA in Acting from the Temple University Advanced Actor Training Program in Philadelphia, taught, acted, directed, worked as dramaturge and produced for several theater companies and schools in New York, San Francisco and Sonoma County for over forty years. She is authorized by master acting teacher Eric Morris to teach his technique, The Eric Morris System. She is working to form Vintage Voices, a “scripts onstage” acting group with actors 55+ years.  

What inspired you to write this play? 

Janine:  When white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, I wondered what the previous residents of that town (the Hemings and Jefferson families) would think.  What might Mary Lincoln, who sacrificed so much for the Union, think about protests over protecting a monument to Robert E. Lee–in 2017!  And what has happened to the party of Lincoln?

Do you enjoy using fantastical elements like you have here? 

Lennie Dean:  Magical realism is my favorite kind of theatre.  It isn’t an intellectual experience.  It calls upon different parts of our brain to react to what is seemingly untethered from reality.  In First Ladies, the characters have a hard time accepting that the God-like Jefferson enslaved his own children.  So the cold hard facts, in the form of a biography of the Hemings family, drops from the sky and lights up on the shelf.  The old adage that we, who refuse to learn our history are doomed to repeat it, takes physical form. 

The theatre has the power to educate and elucidate… Do you agree and if so, what do you hope the audience takes away from seeing your play? 

Janine:  Theatre is uniquely positioned to illuminate history, create characters that audiences relate to, and create a space for empathy.  By creating dialogue for 9 historical women, who continue to “live” on into our own time, we show that our history is a living and breathing phenomenon.  It’s not an artifact and it’s not set in stone.  Our understanding of history necessarily changes as we see it from a variety of perspectives, wrestle with it, and engage it.  There is nothing that can’t be discussed, especially the horrors and injustices of slavery.  We hope that the audience will be inspired to take action so that “All men are created equal” is a reality, not just a promise.

What have you learned about yourself from this work? 

Janine:  I was terribly naive about what it would take to write a full-length play about 9 historical women (one needs to read a LOT of books). I also realized that America is filled with interesting historical characters, so my dance card is full for decades!

What’s next?

Janine:  A play about James Henry Hammond, a governor of South Carolina in the 1840s.  It’s a play–surprise!– about race and gender.  I’m also writing a dystopian play about librarians set in New York City.