Peter Strzok was one of the most senior FBI agents. In fact, a congressman has described him as one of the top counter intelligence agents on the planet. He was having an affair with Lisa Page, one of the FBI’s most senior lawyers. Along with bitching about work, they also worried and plotted to scupper the Trump candidacy and then his presidency of the United States.
In private text messages, they discussed starting the investigation into Donald Trump’s supposed ties with Russia before the election as an “insurance policy” in case he was elected. Strzok also pledged to stop Trump getting elected at all - shortly after Strzok launched the “collusion” investigation. In between sending teenage-lovestruck texts, they also spoke with revulsion and contempt of Trump and his supporters. Strzok wrote that he could “smell” them during a visit to a southern Virginia Walmart. In the middle of this political conspiracy, there also existed a couple of arrogant, insecure bureaucrats embarking on a doomed, extramarital affair.
It is an amazing love story and an amazing political story which is why I choose it for my latest Verbatim Play. FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers uses only their texts and closed door Congressional questioning about the texts. Pure verbatim theater means nothing was added, and because it is very often an unfiltered court case or inquiry, it can lead to explosive theater. Adding to the drama and the attraction was the news that “Young Superman” Dean Cain, and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Kristy Swanson, had agreed to play Strzok and Page. It attracted enormous publicity and above all it was the truth.
This is why the left was afraid of FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers and what it reveals. How could they argue with Strzok and Page’s actual words? The theatrical world is an ultra-hard-left cult within the already far-left entertainment industry, and so before the staged reading, they pulled out all the stops attempting to try and stop the production. The Studio/Mead Theater, which had originally agreed to host the event, pulled out at the last minute over supposed “security concerns” (which turned out to be a single tweet). Then, several outlets proclaimed falsely that the event had been “cancelled.”
This is becoming a trend. My play, Ferguson, another piece of Verbatim Theater, faced similar hurdles. Nine actors walked out before the production, and for a play I put on in San Francisco, a website run by a former Berkeley Professor refused to run a review it had commissioned - because it was positive!
The same people who preach diversity and tolerance seem to act pretty cowardly and intolerant when they’re faced with facts they don’t like.
Despite the attempts to kill it, the staged reading of FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers premiered in Washington, D.C. and it was a hit. The Federalist said that it “plays like a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch, only every word is true and it’s actually funny.” National Review described the play as “DC satire at its best...that left the audience howling.”
Rick Manning at The Torch wrote that he participated in a meeting at the White House the day after and those in attendance “couldn’t stop talking about it.”
Even left-leaning outlets found it difficult to lambast the play. HBO’s Vice News described it as “underground...edgy..the most dangerous play in Washington DC.”
So often we hear that conservatives can’t make art, or films or plays, but the people making these claims never ask about the barriers put in the way of those who dare to question the consensus. They are denied funding, support and in my case venues, actors and even reviews.
Thankfully, I was able to crowd-fund to ensure the show went ahead. The play was filmed and we will be releasing it to a massive worldwide audience shortly, that is, if the social media giants decide to allow it.
Find out more at www.FBILovebirds.com.