THE IRREPRESSABLE MOLLY IVINS COMES TO THE FOOTLIGHTERS FOR ONE WEEKEND ONLY

September 7 – September 9, 2018

Marianne Phinney as Molly Ivins

The Walpole Footlighters kick off their 94th season with Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel. Proceeds will go towards the Walpole Footlighters scholarship fund for Walpole High School. Marianne Phinney portrays the sassy Ivins, directed by Peter Bradley. After each performance, there will be a follow up conversation with Ms. Phinney and Mr. Bradley.

Red Hot Patriot is based on the writings and speeches of Molly Ivins, a nationally syndicated political columnist and humorist. She emphasized the more hilarious aspects of both state and national government as well as of her native state of Texas. Raised in Houston, Ivins attended Smith College and the Columbia University School of Journalism. She worked at the Houston Chronicle and the Minneapolis Tribune before joining the Texas Observer, a political magazine devoted to Texas politics and social issues. In 1976, she moved to the New York Times, where she was ultimately named Chief (and only employee) of the Times’ Rocky Mountain Bureau. She returned to Texas in 1982, writing for the Dallas Times-Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before becoming an independent journalist in 2001.  Ivins wrote eight best-selling books, including Who Let the Dogs In? Incredible Political Animals I Have Known.

She became one of the world's Leading Authorities on George W. Bush entirely by accident. She had known him since they were in high school, and as Sir Edmund Hillary said of Mount Everest - he was there. Ivins counted as her highest honors that the Minneapolis police force named its mascot pig after her, and that she was once banned from the campus of Texas A&M (http://www.creators.com/author/molly-ivins).

Molly Ivins quotations are legend. About her home state, she said, “Good thing we've still got politics in Texas - finest form of free entertainment ever invented.” Her comment about a Texas legislator, “If his IQ gets any lower, we’ll have to water him twice a day” led to the title of her first book, Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?

Performances are at the Walpole Footlighters Playhouse at 2 Scout Road in East Walpole on September 7 and 8 at 8:00 pm and September 9 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $20 and all seats are reserved.  Discounts are available for students and for groups of 10 or more. To purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 508-668-8446 or purchase online at www.footlighters.com.

This production is sponsored in part by the Walpole Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. 

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Steve Small at 508-668-8446 or email at [email protected].

---