Integrated Learning-Living Communities

On Oct. 10, the BEES made a timely trek to downtown Dayton to see Campaigns, Inc. at the Dayton Theatre Guild. The Guild — once aware of the size of the hive — made an offer the BEES could not refuse: a command performance for just the BEES, the night before its official opening in Dayton.

The play takes a jaw-dropping dive into the world of political consulting, where fake news and dirty tricks are all in a day's work. A new comedy written by Dayton's own Will Allan (a student at Oakwood High School with Micah Stock — BJ's actor son), Campaigns, Inc. shines a spotlight on the underbelly of politics as a for-profit firm — founded by a woman — constructs the country's first star-studded smear campaign.  

Based on the true story of Leone Baxter and Clem Whitaker, who formed the first political consulting firm in U.S. history, Campaigns, Inc. provided painfully funny inside look at the underbelly of politics through the lens of two of the undeniable founders of “fake news.” Set in 1934, the famous novelist Upton Sinclair is all but guaranteed to become the first Democratic governor of the state of California — until a young, unknown pair of consultants from the shadows of the challenger’s campaign attempt to take him down.

As Frank Merriam and Sinclair battle it out in the spotlight — seeking endorsements from the likes of Charlie Chaplin and FDR — Baxter and Whitaker work behind-the-scenes to methodically construct one of the most spectacular, unbelievable, and star-studded smear campaigns ever.

The event was such a success, and plans are in the works to make a BEES outing to the Guild an annual event. Not only was the play timely politically — given the misinformation abounding during the 2024 election year — it was also relevant economically, since the BEES students — enrolled in ECO 203 (microeconomics) — were just about to start up a firm and explore the differences in behavior emerging in different contexts ranging from perfect competition to monopoly, models that ironically assume information is accurate and symmetrically distributed to all economic agents.