First performed at the Havana Cafe Theatre, September 2017 as part of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Performance rights now available.

Draining the Swamp

D2 and Curious Creations Theatre get curious again and the result is a musical, theatrical vortex - this time with a comedic jab at "The One "and the one percent.

Comic mayhem ensues when The Boss fires his apprentice, shoots his driver, and gets arrested for murder.

“If you start every day checking out what dumbass thing Donald Trump just did, you will love this show. The Boss connives, lies, cheats, and fires anyone who gets in his way. What could possibly go wrong? We sing, we dance, and possibly make you think - as you tap your toes. It really is a musical tweet.”

Draining the Swamp is a 70 minute musical with 10 original songs.

Characters 14 characters played by 3 M, 5 F (or gender flexible casting)

Book and lyrics written by Dawn Moore and Desmond Price

Music composed by Kevin Michael Cripps

Production Rights by arrangement with D2 Playwrights, Dawn Moore and Desmond Price

What's it about?

Draining the Swamp: A Musical Tweet is a cautionary tale. The play is a comedic jab at “The One” and the One Percent. Comic mayhem ensues when The Boss fires his Apprentice, shoots his Driver, and gets arrested for murder. Pay attention. Look out for the real swamp creatures. If you drain the swamp “what matters is what’s left behind.”

Writing Style

Inspired by a short play The Exception and the Rule, by Bertolt Brecht, the play investigates class differences between rich and poor. Brecht wanted to protest against established rule, in which the working class is exploited, and the justice system is biased in favour of the rich. His play, in turn, was based on a Chinese play from the Yuan Dynasty era (1271-1286), He han shan, The Confronted Undershirt. We are curious – has anything changed in 800 years?

THE WRITING TEAM

Desmond Price (Book, Lyrics)

Des is a Vancouver based playwright, and director. He writes plays in partnership with Dawn Moore and their latest play, Draining the Swamp, with music by Kevin Michael Cripps, had a sold out run at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. An earlier version of Waiting for Garbo, played at both the Edinburgh and Vancouver Fringe Festivals. He was previously the Artistic Director of Novus Theatre for whom he directed The Dance of Death, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Jennie’s Story, Molly’s Dream and Elizabeth – Almost By Chance a Woman. His production of Canadian Gothic was picked by the Vancouver Sun as one of the best ten theatre productions of the year for 1999. Other directing credits include: Top Girls, The Roaring Girl, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Waiting for Godot, The Seagull, Dracula, Mad Forest, Arabian Nights, The Tao of Ron and Treasure Island. He has twice been nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design, for the original Tamahnous production of Haunted House Hamlet and for Novus Theatre’s production of Scary Stories. Acting credits include parts in The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, Laura, Bus Stop, Suicide in B Flat , Don’t Drink the Water, The Three Sisters, The People We Know and Primo Nana.

Dawn Moore (Book, Lyrics)

Dawn, co-founder of Curious Creations Theatre, shares the role of Artistic Director with her writing partner Desmond Price. A Vancouver based writer, director and educator, her work focuses on collaborative, entertaining theatre with a social conscience. Dawn is a founding member of Capilano University’s Theatre Department where she taught directing, acting and history. A first incarnation of Waiting for Garbo won praise at the Edinburgh and Vancouver Fringe Festivals and inspired her to work on an expanded, all-musical show. With over forty directing credits, some favourites include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Laramie Project, The Heidi Chronicles, Charlotte’s Web: The Musical, Crimes of the Heart, Dancing at Lughnasa, Search and Destroy, Romeo and Juliet, 7 Stories, Camino Real, and Curious Creations’ political comedy Draining the Swamp.

Kevin Michael Cripps (Composer)

KMC is Head of Singing at the Guildford School of Acting. He has a Masters Degree in the Practice of Voice and Singing and is an active music director, vocal coach, accompanist and actor. Recent music direction credits: Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Align Entertainment), Peter and the Starcatcher (Arts Club), The Rocky Horror Show (Capilano University) The Drowsy Chaperone and Titanic (TUTS). Recent acting credits: Cowboy Bob in Footloose (Chemainus), Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Align Entertainment), The Bishop in Les Miserables (Arts Club). Kevin also contributed music and arrangements to The Bakewell Bakeoff, a New Musical now published by the Rodgers and Hammerstein European Union office.

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