Actor Frank Britton survived a vicious attack on the streets of downtown Silver Spring following the opening night cast party for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. From his hospital bed, Britton said “They could have blown me away. But instead they just broke my face … I’m moving on and I just want to get back to my show.” Undergoing one facial reconstruction surgery, and facing more, it was hard to imagine that the generous and brave actor could pull off returning to the stage anytime soon.
But he has. Forum Theatre in an email today said all it had to – ‘Frank is Back!’.
Frank Britton will return to the stage in the role of Pontius Pilot for the last five performances of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot this week: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8pm, and, on Saturday, 2pm and 8pm.
With the rush for remaining tickets that is sure to follow this announcement, theatregoers wishing to guarantee their chance to see these last performances should purchase seats as soon as possible. (Forum Theatre puts half of their tickets on Brown Paper Tickets for advance ticket sales ($20-$25), and the other half are held at the door to be sold at a PAY WHAT YOU WANT price. Those go on sale ONE HOUR before the show. Make sure you plan ahead and get there early to ensure yourself a ticket!)”
Following the attack on Frank Britton in the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 30th, the theatre community quickly rallied to support the popular actor. Local news coverage, which originally reported the attack itself, quickly became international as the focus turned to the overwhelming outpouring of love and support from the theatre community for Britton. A GoFundMe campaign was set up in his name. Donations soared past the hoped-for $3,000 in the first hour. Today the total collected stands at over $54,000. The campaign is ongoing, as Britton will need more surgeries to completely repair the damage to his face.
“These acts of love far, far outweighed that one act of violence”, Britton wrote recently “and to witness these acts of love from my beloved Theatrical Fam and the community at large in the city of my birth and beyond goes beyond description for me in terms of how I feel. I can’t articulate that level of kindness. That level of love. I lost a massive amount of blood and only have about 80% of my face at the present, but my resilience was never compromised. Resilience is in my DNA, and even from this, I soldier on. I am a pretty decent survivor, and I’ve been challenged a number of times in my 34 1/2 years. But it was ALL of YOU that kept a brotha buoyed with love, and it’s ALL of YOU that are continuing to get me through this.”
From his awful brush with violence, Frank gets to take away something many victims of crime do not. And while he may or may not have a physical scar or two, in place of any mental scars, there will always be the knowledge that he and his beautiful spirit and personality created an outpouring of love and affection that will forever trump any other memories. I firmly believe this. Proof that tW’s slogan “Taking Care of Our Own” is alive and well in the country’s tightest, most supportive theater community. And with his return to the show, everyone wins.