Trump & Mephi: A Faustian Play in Perfect Rhyme

By Lloyd Anderson

A president wakes at midnight in the Oval Office to find a polished, enigmatic figure waiting. Mephi, his mysterious guide, offers three visions: a sovereign who remade a faith, a general whose fortunes turned on a single ridge, and the final, crushing hour when a ruler's world gives way. Through each vision, the journey becomes more personal-a reckoning not with politics, but with power itself, and the cost of holding it.

Written in sustained heroic couplets, Trump & Mephi is theatrical mythmaking at its sharpest: equal parts Shakespearean lyric, morality parable, and modern psychological drama. The play treats its title figure not as caricature but as archetype-a heroic, wounded, persuasive presence-and places him within a long dramatic tradition that asks what leadership truly costs.

- Compact and economical to stage: minimal set, three principal actors.
- Runs approximately 60-70 minutes.
- Rhythmic, performative language that rewards actors and directors.
- Performance friendly: the play is cleared for performance and recording with simple crediting.
- Ideal for theatre festivals, academic productions, community theatre, and fringe stagings.
- Also reads effectively as a closet play-designed to be experienced through language and performance rather than elaborate staging.

This is theatre that invites conversation rather than answers-audiences laugh, feel uneasy, and leave thinking. For directors seeking a striking one-act evening in rhyme, Trump & Mephi offers immediacy, punch, and a staging footprint that's simple to realize.

Note to readers: Though Trump & Mephi is written as a non-partisan work, it is a philosophically challenging play. Please read it through from beginning to end before giving it as a gift. There is no explicit content beyond a single word of profanity, but certain scenes may be intense or unsettling.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G3LXNV6W
• ISBN13: 9798275684049
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"