The Great Campaign


The Great Campaign is a 1947 play by Arnold Sundgaard.
The play tells the story of a farmer who runs for President of the United States, because he objects to the other candidate, who was chosen by a phony politician. But his son sabotages his campaign by turning his big speech over to his opponents, and the farmer is defeated.
The Great Campaign opened on Broadway at the Princess Theatre on March 30, 1947. It was produced by The Experimental Theatre, Inc. and T. Edward Hambleton, supported by ANTA.
Players included Millard Mitchell as Sam Trellis, Thomas Coley as his son, and John O'Shaughnessy and Robert P. Lieb. The director was Joseph Losey, and choreography was by Anna Sokolow.
Billboard praised the music, dancing, acting, and direction, and particularly the innovative integration of music into the production, "taking a leaf out of Hollywood's book", but described the script as "wordy diffuse" and said "the play fails mainly because the characters never become real" since with 14 sets there is "so much action taking place in so many places never gets a chance to build character".
The Great Campaign flopped, closing on April 7 after five performances.
The Great Campaign has not often been staged since its 1947 Broadway run. The University Players of George Washington University mounted a production in 1948.