Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, Starring Kathleen Turner, Will Play Arena Stage

By Andrew Gans
02 May 2012

Red Hot Patriot star Kathleen Turner
Red Hot Patriot star Kathleen Turner
Photo by Mark Garvin

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater artistic director Molly Smith announced that Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, starring Kathleen Turner, will be part of the theatre's 2012-13 season.

Written by twin-sister journalists Margaret Engel and Allison Engel and directed by David Esbjornson, the D.C. premiere will kick off Arena Stage’s upcoming season, playing Aug. 23-Oct. 28 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

“Molly Ivins is a political news icon. Newspeople admired her, and politicians—even the ones she skewered—respected her brutally honest work. She makes a really wonderful stage character, and Kathleen Turner is the ideal match. Molly was a true crusader and activist in every sense of the word—and activists catch fire on stage,” said artistic director Smith in a statement.

In Red Hot Patriot, Academy Award and Tony Award nominee Turner, according to Arena Stage, brings her "sizzling blend of sensuality and intelligence to the bravado of newspaper columnist Molly Ivins. A dyed-in-the-wool liberal from deep in the heart of Texas, Ivins’ rapier wit made her one of America’s highest-regarded columnists, satirists and beloved rabble-rousers."

“I am thrilled to be bringing Red Hot Patriot to Arena Stage,” added Turner. “We had our first reading there, and the timing on this piece, before the election, couldn't be better. Can hardly wait.”

Tickets for Red Hot Patriot are available now to Arena Stage subscribers only by visiting arenastage.org or calling the Arena Stage Sales Office at (202) 488-3300. Single tickets go on sale July 16.