Publisher's Synopsis
Two plays that explore with bald-faced honesty the private lives and public careers of two of America's Founding Fathers. TREASURE --Ambition. Greed. Lust. Recklessness. Righteousness. Honor. Betrayal. Potential. All make for a chilling political drama. In this glimpse into the life of founding father, Alexander Hamilton, we delve a little bit deeper into early American history. Fifth grade social studies class taught many that Hamilton was a Revolutionary War veteran and a close friend of General and later President Washington's, who appointed him as Secretary of the Treasury in his new government, but one might wonder what else there is to know about Hamilton. The play examines Hamilton's conflicts between fidelity, desire, aspiration and honor. Hamilton's personal indiscretions resulted in blackmail and corruption, as the husband of the woman he was dallying with tried to make a buck off the new Secretary of the Treasury. Speculation, stealing from soldiers, cheating... How can you salvage a marriage or a political future when you're involved in something so sordid? Not much has changed. LIGHTNING ROD--What is the price of Liberty? For Benjamin Franklin, it was flesh and blood. Widely lauded for his role in giving birth to a new nation, Franklin's role as a father to his own children remains largely a mystery. This work commissioned by the Fulton Opera House & Franklin and Marshall College, as part of the international celebration of Franklin's 300 Birthday, in 2006, examines the origins of Franklin's character and how nothing could divide him from his beloved son, William, except a revolution.
