When David Andrew MacDonald takes the stage as Leo Tresler in Arena Stage’s Junk, an economic thriller that exposes the financial dealmaking behind the mergers and acquisitions boom of the 1980s, it will be his first appearance on an Arena stage in 34 years.
Written by playwright Ayad Akhtar, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Disgraced, and directed at Arena by Jackie Maxwell, Junk delves into the world of junk bonds and financial trading. Akhtar, himself, describes it as “…a story of the transformation of the American economy to an economy where things don’t make money; money makes money.”
“My background is not at all in finance, though a number of my friends growing up ended up going into that world, though more in the legal aspect, so I really knew very little about that world,” MacDonald says. “I knew trading junk bonds had somewhat changed the face of financial America in the world, but really didn’t know much more than that. I was more interested in poetry.”
“My wife had done one of the earlier regional productions of Disgraced in Philadelphia. Ayad had come down and I met him there, and he was really a compelling interview,” MacDonald says. “When I got the audition for this, I still had family down in D.C., so I wanted to come back and work at Arena. I read it and the piece is just fascinating. I was very excited when Jackie wanted to use me.”
MacDonald’s character, Leo, is a private equity magnate who must deal with an internal moral shift when he comes up against the king of junk bonds, Robert Merkin.
“I knew when I read the play, it was functioning around the junk bond period, but I also knew there was something else going on having to do with immigration and having to do with the nature of greed, having to do with racism and anti-Semitism and different things like that,” MacDonald says. “Ayad wrote this almost as an origin piece – who are we as a people coming out of this condition of changing wealth.”
Once cast, MacDonald delved a bit into the history of junk bonds but didn’t want to research it too carefully. A big fan of Shakespeare, the actor understands that doing research of his traditional historic plays has less to do with history than some of his tragedies, and took somewhat the same mindset towards research for Junk.
What he has learned is that what happened in the ’80s changed the face of finance much more than he had originally thought.
There are many ways to look at this play, he believes, which shows how people function and how commercial markets dictate a lot of that.
“There will certainly be conversations about the beginnings of the crumblings of the foundations of the established white male society,” he says. “Even those of us, like myself, will have to acknowledge that those things financially in many ways consciously and unconsciously run our lives in ways we don’t often understand.”
Originally from the D.C. area, MacDonald last appeared at Arena in 1985. While in college in Colorado, then-Arena Stage Artistic Director Doug Wager came for a summer theater class and invited MacDonald to drop him a line when he was back in the area.
“When I was going to undergraduate school, I thought I was more interested in music. I had done theater, but was mostly thinking opera at the time,” he says. “While there, I started doing a little bit of reading about the history and philosophy of theater and I fell in love with that. I started acting, and coupling that with the applause at the end, it became this fascinating and intellectual connection that swept me off my feet. I just loved it.”
“I called [Wager] and they were doing this rather large John Guare world premiere, and I came in and became part of this huge production, Women and Water,” MacDonald says. “This was back when they still had a resident acting company, so it was really quite an experience.”
A graduate of the Juilliard School, MacDonald has found success in the theater, appearing on Broadway in Rocky, Two Shakespearean Actors, Coram Boy, Mamma Mia! and Skylight; and also spent 10 years playing Edmund Winslow on the former soap opera, Guiding Light.
Being back in Arena has brought back many memories for him. He remembers playing in a large poker game with some of the theater’s dignitaries and taking home a big pot to the dismay of the older players, and just enjoying the community and the beautiful space. He’s thrilled to be back in a show as important as Junk.
“This show isn’t black and white, but is actually the shade the world really is, which is grey,” MacDonald says. “It’s funny how Junk surprises you back and forth. Ayad is quite remarkable in that way.”
Junk runs from April 5 to May 5 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St SW, Washington, DC.
Details and tickets.
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