The workshop production Falls for Jodie will open in the Theater Building’s Theatre B starting at 8 p.m. Friday and running through Saturday.

Based on a true story, the play tells the story of John Hinckley as he visits Yale in 1980 in an attempt to meet his childhood crush. Eddie, the concierge of the hotel at which Hinckley is staying, is the only one who can help him find her. Hinckley later goes on to attempt to assassinate President Reagan. 

Falls for Jodie was written by Eric Holmes, a second-year M.F.A. candidate in the Playwrights’ Workshop. He came to Iowa from New York City, where he lived for seven years doing theater.

Falls for Jodie is his first play involving a historical figure, and although the production takes place 35 years ago, Holmes says that it is still relevant.

“The problems that ended the Carter administration and shaped the dawn of the Reagan era — income disparity, the role of government, racial prejudice, and a biting recession — are still very much a part of the national conversation today,” Holmes said. 

Felipe Carrasco, who plays Eddie, just graduated from the UI; he said it as an honor to collaborate with Holmes.

“I have worked on shows without the playwright … and it’s totally different. It’s great because you have the playwright there in the room as a resource,” he said. “If you don’t have the playwright there and you’re caught up on a moment or your character’s intention … but with the playwright being there, you can always talk it out with him.”

Carrasco said he intended Falls for Jodie to be educational and entertaining.

“I hope [audiences] get to watch and enjoy this relationship unfold and John Hinckley’s story unfold in the months prior to what we all know happened in history,” Carrasco said.  

— by Devyn Young

Falls for Jodie