User:Eotoo1

Building The Wall
From Erin O'Toole, student at University of New Haven

Building The Wall is a fictional play that was published in 2017 and was written by Robert Schenkkan. The setting of this play takes place two years into the future, in 2019 after a supposed terrorist attack has occurred in Times Square, in New York City and after President Trump has declared Martial Law. Declaring Martial Law has caused the United States to come up with deportation plans to kill the illegal immigrants.

There are two main characters in this play; Gloria and Rick. They are the only two people who speak throughout this entire play. Rick is currently being interviewed by Gloria while he is in prison (Magnum Security Prison) for his past actions regarding what he was told to do for Trump’s immigration policy; he is contained and separated because he is seen as a danger to himself as well as others. The play is about racism between two diverse viewpoints (conservative and democrat) regarding President Trump’s immigration policy, border control, and security measures within prisons.

Multiple inaccuracies take place within this play, as it was written in perspective of the future. These inaccuracies include the setting, where there was a terrorist attack causing everything to go haywire, President Trump declaring Martial Law, burning bodies of illegal immigrants (similar to Nazi concentration camps).

About the Author: Robert Schenkkan is an American actor and writer and was born on March 19, 1953. He earned his Bachelor of the Arts in drama in 1975 from the University of Texas, and a Master of Fine Arts in theater from Cornell University in 1977. He is a winner of the Pulitzer prize for his play, The Kentucky Circle in 1992; as well as his play All The Way earned Best Play at the 2014 Tony Awards. Schenkkan is also the author of many other famous plays such as The Marriage of Miss Hollywood and King Neptune (2002), By the Waters of Babylon (2005), and Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates (2006). Along with writing plays, Schenkkan also writes movies and miniseries for the Television. His works include Crazy Horse (1996), Pacific (2010), and films: The Quiet American (2002) and Hacksaw Ridge (2016).

Characters: Gloria is an African-American woman who is in her forties. She is a college professor who teaches history is intelligent, warm-hearted and she dresses very conservatively. Gloria is a democrat who does not support President Trump nor his ideologies.

Rick is also in his forties. He is a white man who is not as warm-hearted inside as Gloria; in fact, he can be quite hostile and rough with his words when it comes to what he believes in and what he supports. He is a republican who fell in love with the President at one of his rallies that he was forced to go to by his friend in Texas. Rick supports President Trump and his ideologies, especially the ones regarding border control and security measures, however he does feel uncomfortable dealing with the immigration laws, when he has to kill the illegal immigrants to keep a steady paycheck. He was the scapegoat for the Magnum Corporate Policy to deal with unforeseen consequences of President Trump’s immigration order to deport all illegals

Live Production: Building The Wall was an off Broadway show in New York City, as well as Miami, Florida. Gloria was played by Tamara Tunie, and Rick was played by James Badge Dale in the New York showing. The show premiered May 12th, and closed only about a month later, in the first few days of June. The play opened officially May 24, in other locations.