The Mead Theatre in D.C. opened its creative arms for Phelim McAleer’s latest project.
Those arms abruptly closed today.
The play, “FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers,” casts Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson as FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The production’s dialogue comes straight from the pair’s texts, which revealed both their romantic affair as well as plans to battle Donald Trump’s rise to the Oval Office.
The team behind the project just announced the theater canceled its contract to host the performance in an email alert. The theater cited “threats of violence” for why it reversed course on the production, according to “FBI Lovebirds” email.
HiT reached out to The Studio Theatre, which houses three theaters including The Mead Theatre. The person answering the phone confirmed the cancellation and read a prepared statement for the reason why. The statement included the words, an “open and violent threat” against the facility due to the planned show.
Here’s the official statement from the D.C.-based theater.
“Studio Theatre has cancelled its contract with third-party rental client Unreported Story Society. Media reports have made us aware of undisclosed details about the event and have generated open and violent threats against the theater and event participants. Studio has an institutional responsibility to consider the safety of our staff, patrons, community, event organizers and attendees. These concerns must be paramount.”
It’s merely the latest example of the modern Left threatening, and sometimes using, violence to suppress speech. Conservative speakers have been verbally attacked across the country, typically in university settings. Some have had materials thrown on them. Others have suffered physical injuries due to the violent protests swirling around them.
The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, a mainstream conservative and podcaster, requires thousands of dollars in security to speak on any given college campus. It cost $600,000 to protect Shapiro during his 2017 appearance at UC Berkeley, the former bastion of free speech.
The play in question almost certainly casts the Obama-era FBI in a toxic light given what we already know about some of the texts. The production employs Verbatim Theatre, a style which uses sources like grand jury testimony and official documents to tell a story. The drama doesn’t flow from a playwright’s imagination, as is the case with the vast majority of plays.
In theory, that makes it harder to slam the material as biased or propaganda.
The production’s email alert insisted the show will go on. The makers vowed to find a new theater to host the play.
“We’re used to this. This has happened to us in every project we’ve done when we’re trying to tell the truth and report stories no one else is reporting,” Ann McElhinney said in a video released today.
The post Theater Cancels ‘FBI Lovebirds,’ Citing ‘Violent Threats’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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