UPDATE:

“This Piece of Ground” returns to New York on October 2 for a limited engagement on Off Broadway.

Set to run October 2-27, the one man play will be at the Theatre at St. Clements on 46th Street.

Actor John Rubenstein spoke on the play saying, “I am so happy to be returning for an extended run in October. This is a beautifully written play, and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to once again present it to New York audiences. I was very moved by the overwhelming enthusiasm we were shown when we premiered Off-Broadway this summer. It’s a play that grabs people — surprises, informs, and uplifts them; these profound, personal, and thought-provoking words from an actual U.S. President couldn’t be more relevant and inspiring — especially during this volatile time in our history. I can’t wait to bring it back!”

The 2022-23 Broadway season is officially over but many productions continue to run as new one are being added oth on Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Set to open on June 20, just in time for summer, is “Eisenhower:This Piece of Land”.  Starring Tony Award winning actor John Rubinstein, the play is a one man show where President Dwight David Eisenhower is on his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm in 1962 and “reminisces” about his life.  The episode is sparked by the first ever publication by the “New York Times” magazine where they rate the Presidents by their greatness.

John Rubinstein spoke of performing in the play saying, “I had never before done a one-person play.  I had often thought that I would like to try it, but never found the person to portray or the piece to interpret – until (director) Peter Ellenstein sent me this inspiring play by Richard Hellesen. I think that people need to hear these profound, personal, and uplifting words from an actual U.S. President during these very trying times. I was so gratified by the overwhelming enthusiasm we were shown when we premiered in L.A. last fall, and we are all extremely proud and happy to now bring this play to New York audiences this summer.”

Playwright Richard Hellesen spoke on creating the play saying, “with such division in the country today, I wanted to go back in our history and look at an individual who led with faith and optimism during a very crucial time.  Despite the Cold War, McCarthyism and the start of the Civil Rights movement, Eisenhower believed in Democracy. On our stage, Eisenhower says ‘some days it feels like democracy is going to have a hell of a time persevering. But this piece of ground, that we all share…if we’re going to leave our young people something better, then we just can’t be complacent. …We have to keep choosing the harder right instead of the easier wrong. Never be content with half-truth when the whole truth can be ours.’”

Director Peter Ellenstein added, “I knew almost nothing about Eisenhower except that he was in charge of World War II and was President during the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ years.  My image of Ike was a somewhat kindly, stodgy, conservative figurehead. But after reading some of his speeches, I discovered that he really was one of the most fascinating and important people in American history. His life and career were packed with so many world-altering events. Richard Hellesen, has crawled inside Ike’s skin to fashion this remarkable play that tells Eisenhower’s story and speaks with profound hope to our own times. In John Rubinstein, we are so fortunate to have found an actor who could interpret the complexity of Ike’s intellect, judgement, scope, humor and humanity.”

While the play itself is a piece of fiction, playwright Richare Hellesen used actual speeches, letters, and memoirs from Eisenhower to create the play.

A Broadway veteran, Rubinstein’s previous roles include “Children of a Lesser God”, “Pippin”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “Ragtime”, “Hurlyburly”, “Madame. Butterfly”, “The Caine Mutiny”, “Getting Away with Murder”, “Fools”, and “Love Letters”.

The play runs from June 20 to July 30 at the Theatre at St. Clements (423 W. 46th Street).  Tickets are available at OvationTix.com.

Feature photo credit: Photos by Maria Baranova.