Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground

TOUR-DE-FORCE PERFORMANCE
AT NORTH COAST REPERTORY THEATRE
VIVIDLY CAPTURES THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND
EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND
By Richard Hellesen
Directed by Peter Ellenstein
Starring Tony Award Winner John Rubinstein
Now extended to November 23, 2025

Solana Beach, Calif. – Experience the intimate, gripping portrayal of America’s esteemed World War II General and 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower, as he grapples with the most consequential decisions of his remarkable life. Tony Award winner John Rubinstein transports audiences to Gettysburg’s hallowed ground, where an elderly Eisenhower reflects on his monumental military leadership and transformative presidency. Through masterful storytelling and rich historical detail, this compelling drama unveils the private thoughts of a brilliant strategist and humble leader who shaped the 20^th century with wisdom, courage, and unwavering devotion to duty. This powerful piece of theatre will enthrall theatre lovers and history buffs alike.

Peter Ellenstein** directs John Rubinstein* in EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND. The Design Team includes Marty Burnett (Scenic Design) and Matthew Novotny (Lighting). Joe Huppert* is the Stage Manager in charge of Projection and Sound. Clarence Lightfoot II is the Production Assistant.

*The actor or stage manager appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.

** SDC Union

EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND previews begins on Wednesday, October 22. Opening Night is set for Saturday, October 25, at 8 pm. The play runs Wednesday, October 22, to Sunday, November 23, with performances on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Added matinee performances at 2pm on Friday, October 24, and Wednesday, November 12.  A talkback session with the director and cast is scheduled for October 31.

BIOS:

RICHARD HELLESEN (Playwright) is pleased to return to North Coast Rep, where his play Necessary Sacrifices was produced in 2020, and Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground received an essential developmental reading in 2022 on its way to off-Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement’s in 2023.  The author of numerous plays and musicals for adult and young audiences, his work has been seen nationally at the Denver Center, South Coast Repertory, Los Angeles Repertory Company, Olney Theatre Center, Barrington Stage, B Street Theatre, Florida Stage, Gretna Theatre, Sundance Children's Theatre, Imagination Stage, People's Light & Theatre, City Theatre in Miami, and Ford's Theatre in Washington DC, where he is an Associate Artist.  A member of the Dramatists Guild and the National Theatre Conference, he has received playwriting awards from NTC, the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, and PEN USA-West, and has twice been Playwright-in-Residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts in Kansas.

PETER ELLENSTEIN+ (Director) is Producing Artistic Director of the New Los Angeles Repertory Company.  For NCRT he previously directed, Necessary Sacrifices (also by Richard Hellesen) and The Last Five Years. He just returned from Gettysburg, where this play was seen by Susan Eisenhower.  He recently produced Ventura Live ’25 (30 shows in 30 days) for Rubicon Theatre in Ventura. From a theatrical family, he’s spent 40+ years in professional theatre, film and television.  Peter directed and produced many plays and musicals, receiving multiple nominations and awards. Peter was Artistic Director of the William Inge Center for the Arts (where Eisenhower was commissioned), and Producing Director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company, both for many years.  He served as Interim Artistic Director of the Gretna Theatre in Pennsylvania and of the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre at the University of Miami . Peter has aided the development of over fifty full-length plays and hundreds of short plays, including original plays and musicals by Theresa Rebeck, Kristoffer Diaz, Michael Lew, Jonathan Mark Sherman, Michael Silversher, Joe Iconis etc...  www.peterell.com

PS:  David Ellenstein, his amazing big brother, is part of ridiculously large and wonderful family… don’t ask.

JOHN RUBINSTEIN* (Dwight D. Eisenhower) originated the title role in the Broadway musical Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, and won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Children of a Lesser God. Other Broadway appearances include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ragtime, Hurlyburly, M. Butterfly, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Drama Desk nomination), Getting Away with Murder, Fools, Love Letters, and the 2013 Pippin revival. He appeared off-Broadway in Counsellor-at-Law (2005 Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics' Circle and Drama League nominations), Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground (Outer Critics' Circle and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations), Morning's at Seven, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Urban Blight, and Cabaret Verboten. Regionally: Wicked in LA, and the international tours of the Pippin revival and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Starred in TV series, "Family" (Emmy nomination), and "Crazy Like A Fox," and over 300 episodes. Films include “Michael,” “Killing Castro,” “Being the Ricardos,” “Hello, I Must Be Going,” “21 Grams,” “Red Dragon,” “The Boys from Brazil,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “Daniel, Zachariah,” and “Getting Straight.” He directed the world premiere of Gurney's The Old Boy, and Counsellor-at-Law, Company, Brigadoon, Macbeth, The Three Sisters, Phantasie, Nightingale, The Rivals, A Little Night Music, Guys and Dolls, Into The Woods, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and The Rover. He composes film and TV music (“Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Candidate,” "The Dollmaker,” "China Beach”, among others), hosted two classical music radio programs, played keyboards in the rock band Funzone, and has recorded over 200 audiobooks, most numerously Jonathan Kellerman's “Alex Delaware” series of Los Angeles crime novels. He is married to Bonnie Burgess, and their son Max is the youngest of his five children, joining Jessica, Michael, Peter, and Jacob.

JOE HUPPERT* (Stage Manager, Projection and Sound Designer) created the original designs for Ike in Los Angeles and New York.  Previous projection designs include This Wonderful Life for North Coast Rep, American Blues and other venues; The Dybbuk and The Oldest Boy (Craig Noel Award) for San Diego Repertory Theater; Lizard Boy for Diversionary Theater and The Elephant Man for Backyard Renaissance. Sound designs include Blueprints to Freedom and Peter and the Starcatchers (La Jolla Playhouse); The Fantasticks and Stop Kiss (Pasadena Playhouse), Good Boys, Extraordinary Chambers and Milvotchkee, Wisconsin (Mo’Olelo); Wisdom From Everything (Local Theater Company); Urinetown, Over the Tavern, and King O’ the Moon (Mercury Theater).