The Columnist

David Auburn’s 'The Columnist' arrived at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in 2012 as a gripping, intellectually fierce political drama under the auspices of Manhattan Theatre Club. Set against the high-stakes, paranoid landscape of mid-century Washington, D.C. during the height of the Cold War and the Vietnam conflict, the factual narrative chronicles the turbulent life and career of Joseph Alsop, the fiercely prideful, hyper-influential syndicated political journalist whose column wielded the power to build or ruin presidencies, collapsing into personal crisis when Soviet agents attempt to blackmail him over his hidden homosexuality. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, the production starred John Lithgow in a towering performance.