The Tug of War

Summary

The judgment of an untested president is all that stands between us and WWIII. As Soviet nuclear missiles move ever closer to Cuba, President John F. Kennedy must chart a course between conflicting counsel and unparalleled emotional stakes to prevent nuclear annihilation. The newly minted US president is put to the ultimate test in this riveting original commission from playwright David Rambo (Empire, C.S.I.)

Includes a panel discussion about the Cuban Missile Crisis with playwright David Rambo; Bob Stern, the past president of the LA-based Center on Governmental Studies; Richard Anderson, a professor of political science at UCLA and former CIA analyst; and Geoff Cowan, a university professor at USC.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast production starring: Matthew Arkin as Llewellyn Thompson and First Reporter; Hugo Armstrong as Lyndon Johnson and Anatoly Dobrynin; Seamus Dever as Robert McNamara; Matthew Floyd Miller as Robert F. Kennedy; James Morrison as John McCone and TV Floor Manager; David Selby as Dean Rusk; Rich Sommer as McGeorge Bundy; Josh Stamberg as John F. Kennedy; Nick Toren as Ted Sorenson, Second Reporter, and General Curtis LeMay; John Vickery as Nikita Khrushchev and General Taylor; and Jules Willcox as Jackie Kennedy, Mrs. Lincoln, and Third Reporter

Directed by Brian Kite and recorded live in performance at UCLA's James Bridges Theater in May 2017.

Sound Effects Artist, Aaron Lyons. Production Manager, Katie Friesen. Music Supervisor, Ronn Lipkin. Assistant to the Director, Michelle Gong. Historical Research, Nick Fanego. Associate Producer, Anna Lyse Erikson. Editor, Mitchell Lindskoog. Recording Engineer, Sound Designer, and Mixer, Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood.