When news broke Saturday evening about the attempted assassination of former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, it was less than two hours before showtime at Town & Country Players’ theater in Buckingham.
The Players’ current show — which had premiered the previous night — was an “unusual” and “thought-provoking” musical called “Assassins,” about presidential assassins and would-be assassins.
With little solid information about what had transpired, but with the knowledge that Trump was not gravely injured, Director Nancy Ridgeway said she decided not to comment on the very recent attempt prior to Saturday night’s 8 p.m. performance.
“I was absolutely stunned, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to be interesting’,” she said.
With the book written by John Weidman and the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, “‘Assassins’ lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States,” says the T&C website.
“The crux of the show,” said Ridgeway, “is these (assassins) are not normal...These people shouldn’t have guns.”
Chris Serpico, who plays the parts of The Proprietor and The Radio Announcer in the T&C production said, “I just think a lot of people had an eerie feeling, particularly the people in the show and the people who saw the show on Saturday night.”
On Sunday, prior to the 2 p.m. matinee, the T&C board president issued a statement, which was posted at the theater and online.
It said, in part, “We extend our sympathies to those affected by the event.”
It was known by then that the assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler County, Pa., had resulted in the death of one attendee and serious injuries to two others, in addition to the wounding of the former president’s ear.
“Our current production of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ examines the complex and often difficult aspects of history,” the statement continued. “While we believe that theater and the arts can serve as a catalyst for important conversation and positive change, our theater and our production do not condone or promote political violence.
“At its best, theater and the arts in general should hold a mirror up to our society, promote constructive dialogue, and be an agent of positive change.”
Calling the statement “perfect,” Ridgeway said she chose on Sunday not to comment on the assassination attempt prior to the performance.
“If someone from the audience asked,” she said, “I would have read the statement...Nobody from the audience brought it up.”
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