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American Theater
September 28, 2025 @ 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm EDT
A film by Nicholas Clark, Dylan Frederick
A “canceled” theater director summons a troupe of conservatives to an abandoned cabin in rural Georgia to plot revenge on the Atlanta theater community with a musical retelling of the 1692 Salem witch trials.
Brian Clowdus earned a national reputation for directing extravagant outdoor musicals. In 2020, dozens of actors came forward with personal stories of misconduct and endangerment while working under his leadership. American Theater meets Clowdus one year later (now a born again conservative) directing an allegorical cancel culture musical about the 1692 Salem witch trials. While the cast struggles to realize his theatrical vision before opening night, Clowdus simultaneously launches a bid for Florida House of Representatives.
Assembled from hours of uninterrupted rehearsal footage and campaign events, American Theater concentrates the paranoia and powerlessness of a nation desperate for direction inside an abandoned cabin. Inspired by the likes of D.A. Pennebaker’s Original Cast Album: Company, Chris Smith’s American Movie, the verite docs of the Maysles, and Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman, this film seeks to reach an audience across political difference.
Directors: Nicholas Clark, Dylan Frederick
Producer: Laura Hilliard
*Individual tickets available for purchase the day of the show at door. Seeing more than a few films? Buy a pass!
Theater #1
About the Film
- 2024
- 85 mins
- US
- Color
- Documentary, Political, Comedy
About the Filmmakers
NICHOLAS CLARK (CO-DIRECTOR) is a filmmaker based in Atlanta Georgia.
DYLAN FREDERICK (CO-DIRECTOR) Broadway: The Inheritance; Off Broadway: Boy Gets Violent (Ars Nova ANTFEST), Summer Valley Fair (New York Musical Theatre Festival); Regional: Assassins (Yale Rep), Merrily We Roll Along (Theater Latte Da). Film/TV: Pokerface. TRAINING: BFA University of Evansville. MFA Yale School of Drama.
LAURA HILLIARD (PRODUCER) is a filmmaker, primarily working as a cinematographer and director. Her multi-disciplinary portfolio spans doc features, short films, music videos, commercials, and site specific installation. Collaborators and clients include Joan Baez, SNL, VICE, TED X, Oslo Freedom Forum, The American Museum of Natural History, Steinway Piano Factory, Gatorade, Nike, Lego, Playtex, Samsung, Snapchat, The Brunel Museum, Space Afrika, Blast Theory, MIF, and Extinction Rebellion.