It Can't Happen Here

From the back cover: Sinclair Lewis' eerily prescient 1935 novel gets a fresh update in this stage adaptation that examines what brings citizenry to the point of sacrificing its own freedom and how a courageous few can prevail to overcome the fall. A cautionary dark satire about the fragility of democracy and how fascism can take hold even in the 'land of liberty,' the plot follows the ascent of a demagogue who becomes President of the United States by promising to return the country to greatness. Witnessing the new President's tyranny from the sidelines is a liberal, middle-class newspaper editor from Vermont who trusts the system will fix itself - until he ends up in a prison camp. Flexible staging and casting - even with some audience participation - help make IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE a remarkable theatrical event.