Published: October 6, 2025
Put on by the Maine Irish Heritage Center on 34 Gray Street in Portland, It Can’t Happen Here was directed by Harlan Baker and performed by local actors as a radio broadcast during its opening during its opening— and only weekend on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13. Proceeds from the $10 minimum donation fee at the door went to the ACLU Maine and the Immigration Legal Assistance Project. 15 cast members made up the ensemble, including Herb Adams as Doremus Jessup, Charlie Cole as Commissioner Swam, Tristan Rolfe as Julian Falck, Isis Phoenix as Mrs. Veeder (as well as other minor roles), Elizabeth Lardie Thompson as Mary Greenhill, and Ann Tracy as Lorinda Pike. Baker originally directed the play on the anniversary of Donald Trump’s first inauguration in 2018, but was asked to put it on again as our political climate continues to be tense, according to West End News.
Adapted from the 1935 dystopian novel by Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here follows the troubling story of fascism’s rise in the United States. The story follows small-town newspaper editor Doremus Jessup and the rising fascist politician Buzz Windrip. Doremus and feminist free-thinker Lorinda Pike fear that if Windrip wins, he will bring an era of tyranny and fascist dictatorship to the country; their fears turn out to be true.
As a retired theater kid, who has not gone to a play in a while, the format of the stage reading as a broadcast did take some getting used to as the characters came and went to the microphone. But once it all clicked, the actors’ performances had me so engrossed I forgot they weren’t doing a full stage performance.
In the beginning of the story, different members of the community have brief conversations about the Windrip candidate, and the audience soon realizes he’s making contradictory— and empty— promises to everyone. The factory owners are promised steady workers and no more strikes, the workers are promised protected Unions, the rich are promised tax cuts, and the poor are promised yearly sums to help them get by. A notable detail of this play is the “Corpos,” President Windrip’s militia-type men, who were inspired in the original novel by Germany’s Nazi Party. The Corpos sees out Windrips will with violence by any means, including murder of dissenters. Once elected, Windrip slowly becomes the tyrannical dictator that Jessup fears him to be, as the loyal Corpos take over factories, farms, and eventually Jessup’s paper. Young boys are forced to join the Corpos’ youth programs, and school children are taught a dictator-approved curriculum that puts the tyrant above all else.
One piece of the story that really stuck with me was the lack of accountability after Windrip is elected. Characters who were outwardly supporting Windrip in the beginning of the story take no responsibility for electing him when things go south. In a conversation with Jessup, the character who owns the factory, calls Windrip “Your President” and the forced takeover of her factory “Your Coordination.” This detail reflects our political landscape and our “Yours” and “Mine” mindset. Jessup, his daughter Mary GreenHill, and his friend Lorinda Pike, alongside undercover young Corpo Julian Falck, begin to form a resistance after Mary’s husband his killed by the Regime, and Jessup, although he escapes, is even sent to a concentration camp. In the end, some characters manage to flee to Canada while others stay to fight in the resistance.
The play contained powerful moments and moving performances, notably the actor of Jessup, Herb Adams, voice performance while his character is whipped for his writings in the paper.
Despite being written over almost 100 years ago, it’s unnerving how relevant the story is today; with the division and no accountability in our politics, the growing tensions between President Trump, Congress, and the Courts, and the controversial I.C.E raids all over the country it’s important now more than ever to reflect on past media and keep the press protected and free. The cast of this production understood that message better than anyone, as performer Isis Phoenix addressed the audience in the play’s conclusion, stating that when fascism comes to the United States, it will be disguised as patriotism and traditional values, and asked the audience members: “My question to you is, what are we going to do about it?”
