Cole Escola

Yeah. And those kinds of things and people are what interest me most because I guess comedy relies so much on expectation that if I know there's a shared expectation by the wide audience, then it's easier to subvert it.

Yeah. And those kinds of things and people are what interest me most because I guess comedy relies so much on expectation that if I know there's a shared expectation by the wide audience, then it's easier to subvert it.

Well, can you talk about how you first came up with the idea? I think it was in 2009. Yeah.

Well, can you talk about how you first came up with the idea? I think it was in 2009. Yeah.

Well, can you talk about how you first came up with the idea? I think it was in 2009. Yeah.

I don't remember what sparked it. I just remember walking around Lincoln Center and I had the thought, what if Abraham Lincoln's assassination wasn't such a bad thing for Mary Todd? And it was just an idea that tickled me so much. And originally, in my mind, it was the seed of an idea for, like, Mary's second chapter. Like, a sort of Nancy Meyers-style divorcee rom-com.

I don't remember what sparked it. I just remember walking around Lincoln Center and I had the thought, what if Abraham Lincoln's assassination wasn't such a bad thing for Mary Todd? And it was just an idea that tickled me so much. And originally, in my mind, it was the seed of an idea for, like, Mary's second chapter. Like, a sort of Nancy Meyers-style divorcee rom-com.

I don't remember what sparked it. I just remember walking around Lincoln Center and I had the thought, what if Abraham Lincoln's assassination wasn't such a bad thing for Mary Todd? And it was just an idea that tickled me so much. And originally, in my mind, it was the seed of an idea for, like, Mary's second chapter. Like, a sort of Nancy Meyers-style divorcee rom-com.

Like, what did Mary Todd Lincoln do after? You know, like... She fully leaned into herself. And then, yeah, slowly over 12 years, I kept having other little ideas that eventually added up to the play.

Like, what did Mary Todd Lincoln do after? You know, like... She fully leaned into herself. And then, yeah, slowly over 12 years, I kept having other little ideas that eventually added up to the play.

Like, what did Mary Todd Lincoln do after? You know, like... She fully leaned into herself. And then, yeah, slowly over 12 years, I kept having other little ideas that eventually added up to the play.

Now, in an article about the play, one writer says Escola mauls American history. And, you know, you do take dramatic license. When people ask you if you did research, you joke that you've tried to unlearn what you already knew. But can you talk about why you did not want to do research?

Now, in an article about the play, one writer says Escola mauls American history. And, you know, you do take dramatic license. When people ask you if you did research, you joke that you've tried to unlearn what you already knew. But can you talk about why you did not want to do research?

Now, in an article about the play, one writer says Escola mauls American history. And, you know, you do take dramatic license. When people ask you if you did research, you joke that you've tried to unlearn what you already knew. But can you talk about why you did not want to do research?

Well, because it's a comedy and I had to make something with the same understanding that my audience has, like everyone in New York City. I have seen the first 20 minutes of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. And I do remember learning bits of information about her coming to New York, you know, during wartime and...

Well, because it's a comedy and I had to make something with the same understanding that my audience has, like everyone in New York City. I have seen the first 20 minutes of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. And I do remember learning bits of information about her coming to New York, you know, during wartime and...

Well, because it's a comedy and I had to make something with the same understanding that my audience has, like everyone in New York City. I have seen the first 20 minutes of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. And I do remember learning bits of information about her coming to New York, you know, during wartime and...

spending outrageous amounts of money shopping for furniture and clothes and, you know, people in the government and people in America sort of being angry at her for doing that, you know, during wartime. And I don't know. I just really related to her. Yeah.

spending outrageous amounts of money shopping for furniture and clothes and, you know, people in the government and people in America sort of being angry at her for doing that, you know, during wartime. And I don't know. I just really related to her. Yeah.

spending outrageous amounts of money shopping for furniture and clothes and, you know, people in the government and people in America sort of being angry at her for doing that, you know, during wartime. And I don't know. I just really related to her. Yeah.