Conscience is the story of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a trailblazer of Maine and national politics, who took an early, risky stand against Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-free speech witch hunt in 1950, a moment that has become critical to our state’s independent cultural identity.

What began as a tense friendship between fellow Republicans turned into an unlikely alliance, then a political rivalry. This play is a deep look into their working relationship and Sen. Smith’s looming choice between political success—including a potential Vice-Presidential nomination—and her own conscience. It culminates in a potentially disastrous speech on the Senate floor that ultimately added to Smith’s legacy of leadership.

Last week, actor Kate Udall (Member, Actors’ Equity Association), who portrays Sen. Smith, and director Lisa DiFranza joined a conversation during rehearsals at the Forest Avenue theater’s lobby.

MOLLY ADAMS: Kate, how have you described this play to someone who hadn’t heard of it?

KATE UDALL: It’s about a woman who did an extraordinary thing that is not really well known, and with more details, people either immediately go, “Oh, Margaret Chase Smith!” or they say, “Who?”

ADAMS: With Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee, the modern echo of the confrontation feels even stronger to me.

UDALL: Or it could be about Liz Cheney, because Smith was a conservative Republican, and the fact that it was a Republican to be the first to break ranks, it’s something that wasn’t done without consequence then or now.

LISA DIFRANZA: We don’t have to do anything to draw parallels. It’s not a dusty old historical drama. It’s a play about the American experiment, and the times in history where we have derailed and had to analyze what risks are involved in this experiment with democracy. It involves gender politics of course, some of which have changed since 1950, and some of which have not. Margaret Chase Smith was the only woman then, 95 out of 96 were men. Then there’s the sexuality piece. Those dynamics make the story much more complex on a human level.

UDALL: And it’s wonderful because our actor playing McCarthy [Liam Craig, Member, AEA] really has a feeling for that. He brings a lot of humor and charm.

ADAMS: Did getting closer to his character change your opinion of McCarthy? Because he’s seen by many as like, a villain in American history.

UDALL: As an actor, you get deeply indoctrinated in the idea that you’re never playing a villain. You’re playing someone that’s misunderstood or doesn’t know how to get what they need. So I am always looking for what is identifiably human about someone, because that’s what theater is about, right? At least most types of theater. I’m always trying to… “Why are they like that?” In my own life too: “I wonder why you’re behaving that way.” I tend not to think of people as villains. Maybe I get that expression on my face that Kamala had [at the debate]. It’s like, “What? What are you talking about?”

DIFRANZA: I think that is the power of theater. An actor works on a compassionate basis toward a character. And by doing so, we invite the audience to do the same. There’s a circle of basic human compassion that is integral to making theater.