Video of the stage play based on anti-Trump text messages between disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI counsel Lisa Page will be available online next month and the trailer of the controversial project was exclusively released to Fox News on Monday.
The play, called "FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers," was held in the amphitheater at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the White House, on June 13. The performance was first scheduled to take place at another D.C. theater, the Mead Theater space in the Studio Theatre complex, but the play's writer scrambled to find a new venue after the initial theater backed out of the project two weeks before it was scheduled to take place, citing "violent threats."
Actor Dean Cain, a frequent Fox News guest best known for playing Clark Kent/Superman in the TV series "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," played Peter Strzok and actress Kristy Swanson, known for her roles in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Big Daddy," played Page.
THE SHOW WILL GO ON: PLAY BASED ON FBI OFFICIALS' ANTI-TRUMP TEXTS GETS NEW VENUE
In the trailer, the audience is heard laughing and clapping as the two actors stood on stage and read the text messages between Strzok and Page, during the dramatized staged reading.
The play's entire script was taken verbatim from the messages as well as Strzok and Page's answers to prolonged questioning in private congressional hearings. The show was filmed and will be released online in mid-October, the play's writer, conservative filmmaker Phelim McAleer told Fox News on Monday.
Cain said he was delighted " to play Peter Strzok as written by Peter Strzok...;In his texts and congressional testimony you learn a lot about Peter Strzok and what he finds important."
"This is the play that the D.C. establishment don’t want you to see because it reveals the truth,” McAleer told Fox News on Monday.
“Don’t forget this is completely verbatim - using only the texts and congressional testimony of Strzok and Page. Though [through] these private communications we see that they said the ‘Russia collusion’ investigation was started as an ‘Insurance policy’ in case Trump gets elected."
He added, "I felt people need to see this and they need to know the truth – that’s why the DC establishment tried to shut it down."
The performance was meant to expose "what was really going on in the FBI in the run-up to the investigation into the alleged Trump/Russia collusion as senior FBI agents became increasingly alarmed that Donald Trump might win the election," according to a press release.
In a statement sent to Fox News in June, a Studio Theatre spokesman said the theater canceled its contract because "Media reports have made us aware of undisclosed details about the event."
"Additionally, there have been open and violent threats made against the theater and event participants. Studio has an institutional responsibility to consider the safety of our staff, patrons, community, event organizers and attendees. These concerns must be paramount."
The spokesman told Fox News, "we have no further comment at this point," when asked for details of the "violent threats."
However, Swanson addressed the threats on “Fox & Friends,” saying, "There was a death threat” on Twitter “to lock the doors and burn down the theater."
When asked what made her want to participate in the play Swanson said, "I think it's a story that people need to hear."
"As an actor, I always find it a strong challenge & enjoy playing a role that is nothing like me personally," she told FoxNews.com. "I am glad that I did it and I hope everyone will get to see what I saw in the real Peter Strzok & Lisa Page."
Strzok was the senior FBI agent working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian activities during the 2016 presidential campaign. He left the investigation in late July 2017 after the text messages between him and Page were discovered.
In June of last year, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz published a report that revealed dozens of anti-Trump text messages between Strzok and Page.
Horowitz, who at the time was investigating the bureau's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, found that some bureau officials "appeared to mix political opinion with discussions about the MYE investigation." MYE refers to Midyear Exam, which was the FBI's code word for the Clinton probe.
Page briefly served on Mueller’s team before returning to the FBI's Office of General Counsel in July 2017. After Strzok was removed from the investigation, he was reassigned to the FBI's Human Resources Division.
In July 2016, Strzok opened the FBI’s initial Russia investigation, which was nicknamed "Crossfire Hurricane" inside the bureau.
Page resigned from the bureau in May of 2018, and Strzok eventually was fired in August 2018.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Many of McAleer’s projects have been controversial, including his play "Ferguson," about the 2014 police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Miss. McAleer said he faced "similar censorship" when he put on that play in Los Angeles.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.