Fatherland is a profound piece of art that depicts one man’s journey to commit treason against the United States of America on Jan. 6, 2021 and the son who turned him in.
(Photo: Jenny Graham)
Fountain Theatre artistic director Stephen Sachs used the actual court transcripts of the United States case against Father (Guy Reffitt) the first man to be tried and convicted for his actions for the insurrection to prevent then Vice-President Mike Pence from certifying the election results declaring Joe Biden as the nation’s 46th president.
When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Father (Guy Reffitt)
Son (Patrick Keleher) has watched his father (Ron Bottitta) spiral after losing his job as an oil worker overseas. The job loss brings them to Wylie, Texas, where father becomes a recruiter for the extremist antigovernment group The Three Percenters.
Father appears to be one of the masterminds of storming the U.S. Capitol after Donald Trump lost the election two months prior.
Father now finds himself in court for his actions and picks up days into the trial when his son is called to testify against him.
When son is asked by the U.S. Attorney when he became aware of what his father was up to…after stockpiling ammunition, zip ties, and wearing a loaded gun on his hip he replies “when he flew their flag in front of our garage on a flagpole“.
What makes this case stand out was the son being the government’s star witness against his father. He submitted an anonymous tip on Christmas Eve feeling it was the right thing to do.
Over 70 minutes, you become entranced in a son who looked at his father as a hero but is forced to reckon with his growing admiration for former President Donald Trump, Newsmax and his plans to “stop the steal”.
Politically, their views are miles apart. Son says “all of you are committing treason and should receive the longest sentence allowed”.
It was hard for father to escape what he did. He was on the news leading the charge with his helmet, bulletproof vest, zip ties attached to his chest all while facetiming his son as he descended upon the capital.
“You SEE this?” asks father as he lifts up his shirt to reveal markings of a rubber bullet penetrating his flesh. He feels accomplished that despite the amount of ammunition present during Jan. 6th that the rioters didn’t shoot a single shot.
All of the actors did an outstanding job of reenacting the lives of the four people they are portraying. With a minimal set design, the audience traverses from the courtroom to flashbacks of how son and father ends up pitted against each other in federal court.
You leave feeling as though you should somehow feel sorry for father but ultimately he had a choice. A choice he didn’t seem to regret until he was caught.
A year and a half after Jan. 6th, father became the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced to federal prison – 87 months – spent in solitary confinement for fear he would attempt to conspire with others to plan another attack.
“This play is not a political diatribe,” says Sachs. “It’s the true personal story of a father and a son and the dangerous propaganda that drove them apart. Every word of it is true. It’s a shout of warning in this election year.”
Fatherland has performances on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 30.
The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Patrons are invited upstairs to relax before and after the show at the Fountain’s café. For reservations and information, call (323) 663–1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.
