←Recommendations of Grand Dragon in Power

Tragic that an innocent woman – whose only objective was to find love & to have a better life – would have to pay the ultimate price in the process. If anything positive is to be gleaned from it, it’s that her death played a significant role in the downfall of what was regarded as the 2nd manifestation of the KKK. Baker delivers a riveting drama filled with compelling characters & tightly crafted dialogue. As relevant today as it was in 1925. Exceptional work.

Many others have stepped up to recommend this highly compelling work. Now, it's my turn to give Mr. Baker his flowers. "Grand Dragon in Power" charts the rise and fall of an American demagogue. And is so unabashedly prescient that it's downright chilling. The final line, "I. Was. Just. Ahead of my time . . . " sent a shiver up my spine (because I know to whom it refers). This represents the kind of playwrighting and theater that we do not see enough of in America. And is so needed in our time. Nice work, Donald.

In this historically-based full-length, you’re going to find some attitudes, lines, and characters that are shockingly familiar and contemporary. And therein lies Baker’s brilliance. A wonderful parallel to the current political landscape of the US. Crisp, noir-like dialogue propels this sizzling, and at times painful, courtroom drama. I particularly appreciated the flexibility of the play’s structure, working well as a radio or stage play. A fast-paced, tense page turner. Give it a read. You’re going to learn something about American history!

I listened to Baker's radio adaptation of this piece by The Radio Theatre Project (https://soundcloud.com/radiotheatreproject/grand-dragon-in-power-by-don…) Characterization, dialogue, structure...everything spot on. Transports us effortlessly into a very real past with its reverberations into the present. Well done.

An absolutely chilling tale deftly told via characters who ring true to the era. Knowing this story is based on true events sadly underscores its relevance to the socio-political climate of today. Baker is a master at dialogue that sets each character apart and yet brings them together in a sense of time and place. I felt the fear and the power of each moment just reading the play. Imagine what could happen when this excellent work is fully staged.

"Grand Dragon in Power" would make an amazing companion piece with Baker's "Trade with Klan" for an ambitious repertory theatre to produce on separate nights. Both pieces evoke a time and place from long ago in the Midwest that is eerily relevant to today, and not just in one region of the country. Creative non-fiction is a challenge to dramatize, but Baker does it so well and makes it seem so effortless. These plays need audiences to shed light on how one man's thirst for power and unchecked privilege make him increasingly monstrous with each scene. Exceptional on many levels.

I had a knot in my stomach reading this play. A tremendous achievement in capturing the angst of truth in such trying times. I imagined myself as an actor portraying the unsavory main character and knew it would be a feat of acting, but a wound to the soul. Bravo to Donald Baker for crafting this unflinching look at the past, this damning commentary of the present, and , hopefully, this effective warning for the future.

What a chilling tale! Chilling because it is based on true events from the 1920s that sadly sound too familiar in the 2020s. A KKK leader who gains political and financial power by stirring up the most despicable prejudices of his “base.” And when finally charged with rape and murder, his defense is to attack the character of the victim. Baker has written an important play. I hope someday we all learn its lessons.

This play says a lot about what we have and haven’t learned from history. An intriguing and well written take on the past that is still important today. The dialogue feels like an old movie from the era, which is a compliment, and the characters come alive in this interpretation of actual events. Horrifying, exciting, emotional, and above all, important.

I didn't know this story about the Grand Dragon of the Klan in Indiana who was convicted of murder and rape in the 1920s. I was completely sucked in and loved watching DC Stephenson get his comeuppance, since politicians these days who spew hate and rape women seem to get away with it. The parallels to today made Stephenson's last line even more unsettling. What a captivating, horrifying, well-written play.