“Fatherland” is an unsettling title, a word that movie-goers associate with Germany under the Nazis, but there are several reasons why it fits this true story of the first man to be put on trial for attacking the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Fatherland” is just as much the story of the man’s relationship with his teenage son, who turned him into the FBI. And it is the story of his disturbing worship of Donald Trump.
“If Trump was not involved, my father would have never been there on the 6th,” Jackson Reffitt testified during the trial of Guy Wesley Reffitt – which we hear the actor Patrick Keleher as the son say verbatim on stage at the New York City Center.
Although, oddly, the names of the real-life characters are never mentioned, director Stephen Sachs, who conceived of “Fatherland,” relies entirely on the public record (the court transcript, public statements, case evidence), and four capable performances (father, son, prosecutor, defense attorney), to re-create the trial, and also depict the scenes described in the testimony. In this no-frills production originally produced at L.A.’s Fountain Theater, where Sachs is the long-time artistic director, we are brought into a story that has some of the elements and impact of a Greek tragedy, but without those time-tested plays’ insight or catharsis. In some ways, we’re all still in the middle of the story.
The father was an oil worker who got continually promoted until, as the chief of operations, he traveled the world, bringing his wife and three children to live in luxury accommodations in exotic locations, such as a condo in Malaysia with a view of the ocean.
“He was one of the best dads ever,” the son says. It is a testament to Ron Bottitta’s stand-out portrayal of the father that we can see his affection in the way he interacts with the son, even when they argue about politics – at least initially.
The good life came to an end, when the price of oil collapsed, the father lost his job, they moved back to Texas, and used up all their savings.
This coincided with the election of Donald Trump as president.
We see the father read aloud from Trump’s “The Art of The Deal.” Soon, we hear the recorded voice of Trump himself. When Donald Trump’s voice plays , it’s accompanied by a flicker of lights behind the backdrop – which could literally be taken as the glow of a television set, but also evokes an Oracle. That’s certainly how the father starts to view Trump.
He starts listening avidly to Fox News and Newsmax, speaks angrily against Antifa and Black Lives Matter, and about the failed promise of 1776. Things escalate. He joins a right-wing militia called the Texas Three Percenters, starts carrying a gun on his hip. After Trump loses the election, upon learning of the “Be there – will be wild” Tweet, the father says on the phone to his new compatriots: “We march on D.C. on the Sixth. Our president needs us.”
Much of this is recounted in Q and A testimony between the prosecutor (Anna Khaja) and the son, but the father is given many monologues (much of it apparently recorded by his son) – some of it nearly-eloquent defenses of political beliefs (“I will follow the government as long as it follows the Constitution.”) but also an account of his experiences on January 6th that is beyond passionate – it seems amplified by crazy, or at least adrenaline.
It may just be my personal political beliefs that allow me to understand why his son is scared into contacting the FBI (and motivated to record his father), while at the same time prevent me from understanding the father’s transformation into violent Trumpism. But I don’t really think it’s just my politics. Rather, there’s an imbalance inherent in the play. The father does get his say, but the play feels presented from the son’s point of view; it’s framed that way. The son is the one testifying; we hear no testimony from the father; his scenes are in effect illustrating the son’s testimony. The only analysis we get is from the son: “This is a painful, slow story of my father falling into a horrible community to attempt to find his place in his life,” he says at one point. This struck me as too simple.
In his cross-examination of the son, the father’s defense attorney (Larry Poindexter) insinuates the son was motivated to betray his father by politics (he was a Bernie Sanders supporter), by fame (he was interviewed by many publications) or by greed (he put up a Gofundme page.) But the lawyer also suggests his client may be a drunk, a braggart, and possibly mentally ill.
I wondered how the father would analyze himself.
This is not the fault or a flaw of “Fatherland” – or if it is so, it’s unavoidable. They went with the material available. But the result was that I’m no further along in understanding what’s been happening in this country. I might not be alone.
“Do you consider your father dangerous?” the prosecutor asks early on.
“I don’t really know him anymore…”
Fatherland
Fountain Theater at New York City Center through November 23
Running time: 80 minutes no intermission
Tickets: $55 – $85
Conceived and Directed by Stephen Sachs
Scenic Design by Joel Daavid
Lighting Design by Alison Brummer
Costume Design by Danyele Thomas
Sound Design by Stewart Blackwood
Cast: Ron Bottitta as Father, Patrick Keleher as Son, Anna Khaja as U.S. Attorney, and Larry Poindexter as Defense Attorney
Photos by Maria Baronova
How can we ever really understand the descent into this radicalization until we go through it ourselves? I don’t want to do that because I view it as so destructive. There was a lean, blonde-headed man who spoke about what it was like for him during the Jan. 6th Committee, who gathered so much testimony before Trump’s second impeachment. He said he just kept more and more into all the websites. He didn’t really understand how out of it he was until he, too, was put on trial for insurrection.