“This low-rent Lear raging on his Twitter-heath has proven that the phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron.”
— George F. Will, The Washington Post
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The perfectly satirical story of our age, King Donald is the shockingly prescient story of our time, a ripped-from-the-headlines lampoon of both William Shakespeare and our national politics.
THE EXPERIENCE
A rollicking production that lifts all the best lines from Shakespeare’s classic dramas and weaves them into the most bizarre political tale of our age, King Donald is an entertaining romp through the true-to-life surreal story. This staged play is sure to be enjoyed by political aficionados, fans of William Shakespeare and devotees of “The Capitol Steps,” alongside the crazed fans of such personages as Hillary Clinton, Kellyanne Conway, Michael Cohen, Robert Mueller and James Comey (all of whom appear on stage).
THE STORY
The faithful story of a young scion, raised to wealth and nurtured by dissolute amoral mentors, among them the Falstaffian Roger Cohn. A playboy who rises in prominence even as he fails at business. A man enchanted by lewd youth, yet brought to the political forefront, who strives always to hail his larger purpose as Prince Hal and confront his corporate masters, in Hamlet’s own voice. A man who is at last exalted to prominence in the empire’s politics, where he is led astray by advisors both heraldic (Conway) and traitorous (Cohen) and ends his life wandering in a twitter storm, entertained by a pitiful fool, Roger Stone.
PLAYWRIGHT
Playwright Kate Ayers was the co-founder of the Indianapolis Children’s Theatre and has created educational theater programs nationwide. She is the writer of over 200 plays, and her plays have appeared on over 300 stages across the globe. La Casa Azul, her musical based on the life of Frida Kahlo, was featured in a world premiere in 2019 and will go on national pre-Broadway tour in spring 2021. The PBS documentary of the La Casa Azul production won an Emmy in 2017. Ayers ran the Theater Program at the Indiana Women’s Prison for 10 years, studied at the Goodman Theatre School and graduated from Columbia (Directing).
PLAYWRIGHT (AND PRODUCER)
Playwright and Producer Ned Hayes wrote and produced the 8-hour-long production of John Milton’s Paradise Lost in Seattle in collaboration with the Washington Center for the Book, which featured actors from Seattle Rep, Intiman, Seattle Opera and University of Washington. He has written and produced plays for a variety of stages for ten years. He holds an MFA and an MA, with a focus on medieval drama and Shakespearean studies. Four of his novels have been published, and his novel The Eagle Tree was a national bestseller, nominated for the National Book Award and the ALA Book Award. The Eagle Tree was adapted by Kate Ayers for the stage and screen in 2018.
PLAYWRIGHT 3: AN APOLOGY TO SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare is the prominent English playwright of the 1500s, who would shrink from claiming any responsibility for this riotous travesty of his work, as his plays were absolutely rifled and routed and spectacularly disassembled for the purposes of a narrative that has absolutely nothing to do with his original intent. Except, surprisingly, Shakespeare’s original scenes work nearly unedited in King Donald! If you love Shakespeare, you’ll find much to enjoy in this ribald and uproarious production.
THE SOURCES
The playwrights are both expert in Shakespearean drama, and have
both performed Shakespeare’s plays on numerous stages nationwide. King
Donald contains much original material, but also adapts and
reconstructs moments and famous storylines from all of the following
Shakespeare plays to create one seamless and hilarious staged narrative: Hamlet, Richard II, Romeo
and Juliet, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, Henry
IIIV, Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, MacBeth,
King Lear,
Taming of the Shrew, Cymbeline, Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Much
Ado About Nothing
SEEKING PRODUCTION PARTNERS
The team who created King Donald is
seeking production partners at this time for a national premiere and a national
tour, both to take place prior to the U.S. presidential election of 2020.
Ned Hayes / 206-321-7981 / producer@kingdonaldplay.com / KingDonaldPlay.com