
Based on a true story.
1952: Stan Glickman is a promising young artist student in Paris, living the life of his dreams. He’s fallen in love and has won a prestigious competition with a show at the Met. But a chance encounter with an American tourist catapults him into one of the darkest chapters of the Cold War—the CIA’s quest for a mind control drug.
After an evening of heated political debate in a Paris café, Stan’s new companion offers to buy him a drink. Stan Glickman accepts—and immediately spirals into a mysterious mental breakdown. His life is shattered; he never paints again. 25 years later, he discovers why: The tourist was a government operative, and the drink he bought Stan was laced with LSD. By then, Stan can’t remember much about the man in the café—except that he walked with a limp. Armed with that clue, Stan embarks on a years-long effort to track down the stranger and force him out of the shadows. But The Other American is about much more than one man’s quest for justice and accountability. It is about the high human price we pay when we allow our government to reduce our fellow Americans—any American–to some expendable “other.”


Paintings by Stan Glickman
STAN: How do I get them to understand, Sarah? Art isn’t about pretty pictures. It’s about forcing the eye. Seeing the world in a whole new way.
SARAH: Seeing the world as you see it. Through your eyes.
STAN: And then to change the world. I truly believe it, Sarah. Art can change minds. It can change the world.
SARAH: One painting at a time?
STAN: If I didn’t think so, there’d be no reason to paint.



Production Photos Credit: Andrea Phox


“Cries out to be seen by the widest possible audience.”– Out in Jersey
“Stunning… A powerful, enthralling drama.” – Broadway World
“Like seeing an experimental film played out on stage or watching a dream unfold … an amazing experience.” – New Jersey Stage
“Fascinating. Bold, New, Challenging, Outstanding. The Other American grabs your attention. The play is likely unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” – New Jersey Stage
The action of the play moves between Paris, circa 1952, and the late 1980s in New York.
Written for 5 actors covering 11 roles
Run Time: 2 hours, with one intermission
Can be performed on a unit set.
2F, 3M
The Other American was commissioned by New Jersey Repertory Company and received its world premiere there, Sept. 5 – 29, 2024. SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director; Gabor Barabas, Executive Producer
It was subsequently revised and presented in a staged reading presented by The Process Series and StreetSigns Center for Literature & Performance at UNC-Chapel Hill, 2.28.25 – 3.1.25