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by Janine Sternlieb

with Lennie Dean

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First Ladies and The Big White Lie

The most famous deceased First Ladies are having a hard time accepting the Trump presidency. But what can they do about it? After all, they’re dead! Disturbing and unprecedented events are unfolding in DC, in Charlottesville, and at the border, and their predictable “existence” is thrown into chaos. They must confront the secrets and deceptions that have hindered America’s march toward a truly democratic society.

" Democracy's a very fragile thing...As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it's no longer democracy, is it? "

Sam Shepard

Why I Write

Every day I read something in the news that strikes me as hypocritical or outrageous, and therefore excellent source material for a play.  Historical figures, just like contemporary figures, are wonderfully full of contradictions, blemishes, and foibles.

- Janine Sternlieb

Janine-headshot.jpg

"If you ever got the message that history is boring, you were wildly misinformed."

- Janine Sternlieb

Playwright

First Ladies and The Big White Lie: The Blog

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Mary Todd Lincholn in First Ladies and The Big White Lie

“Clouds and darkness surround us, yet Heaven is just, and the day of triumph will surely come, when justice and truth will be vindicated.”

Mary Todd Lincoln

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