Convention

At the 1944 Democratic National Convention, in a moment of internal crisis, party leaders made a fateful, backroom decision that changed the course of history: they ousted incumbent Vice President Henry Wallace, a progressive with mass public support, and installed Harry S. Truman, a little-known moderate, to succeed FDR after his death. It was a calculated move, made in fear of Wallace’s politics and his popularity. The consequences were immediate and seismic: FDR died just nine months later. Three months after that, Truman dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ushering in the nuclear age and cementing a new world order. The aftershocks continue to reverberate: The Democratic Party has wrestled with its ideological identity ever since, torn between its progressive ambitions and centrist pragmatism. The sidelining of Wallace marked not just a personnel shift, but a philosophical one from which the left has never fully recovered. The play, Convention, drags this buried story into the spotlight, where it belongs. The question still hangs in the air: what might have happened - what could have happened - if Wallace had been allowed to lead? In this LA remount, 52 actors perform for an audience of just 50 - an unprecedented greater-than-1:1 performer-to-audience ratio - offering Angelenos an unforgettable live experience that honors the spirit of the original production while raising the stakes. Limited 3-day run: Fri. Sept. 26 @ 8pm Sat. Sept. 27 @ 8pm Sun. Sept. 28 @ 3pm