About the Play:

Chesapeake is a full-length drama by Lee Blessing. In a strained political season, the provocative work of one edgy performance artist comes up against a conservative senator running for re-election. The senator has a lovable dog; a charming, folksy manner; and a campaign to cut "frivolous arts spending." The artist has a plan for one final shocking performance with his arts grant. How much could a dognapping really cost, anyway?

Chesapeake is a funny one-person tour de force about a performance artist, known and addressed by a single name Kerr, who's been robbed of an arts grant by his enemy, an ambitious Southern politician. When conservative candidate Therm Pooley's criticism of Kerr's government-sponsored performance art lands him a Senate seat, the artist seeks revenge. The centrepiece of Pooley's political career is his prize Chesapeake Bay retriever, Lucky, whose tricks ingratiate Pooley to voters. In an act of performance art, Kerr seeks to kidnap and retrain Lucky. Events move from criminal to metaphysical when Kerr is foiled by a mysterious and supernatural transformation, and the human-dog relationship brings him closer to Pooley than he ever imagined.

Chesapeake premiered in 1999 off Broadway by New York Stage and Film Company at the Second Stage Theater, and by the Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Since then it has become a staple of fringe festivals and regional repertory houses.

Cast: 1 female or 1 male

What people say:

"Many surprises are in store for the audience, including, most refreshingly, a political story that can be appreciated by all viewers, no matter what their party affiliation…[Blessing's] very humorous and quirky tale [makes] us grateful for support for the arts and for the people who care enough to write about it." — Talkin' Broadway

"…the play really takes flight…a play with enough surprises to delight and amuse." — ArtsBeatLA.com

"Blessing's funniest piece of work to date." — Chicago Tribune

"…funny and incisive…." — CurtainUp

About the Playwright:

Lee Blessing is an American playwright who remained in his hometown of Minneapolis working in regional theater before relocating to New York when he was in his forties. The author of over twenty plays and screenplays, he been nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards as well as the Pulitzer Prize. He is professor emeritus at Rutgers University, where for a dozen years he headed the Graduate Playwriting Program of Mason Gross School of the Arts.