A playwright plucked from obscurity

The Ides Of March has made Beau Willimon’s reputation, writes Declan Cashin.

DID you hear the one about the young, struggling writer whose play was snapped up by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars before it had even debuted on a stage? This isn’t the start of a fairytale or a joke but rather the real-life trajectory of Beau Willimon, whose 2004 play Farragut North has been adapted into the new political thriller The Ides of March by George Clooney.

“It was the case that after a number of years of working in total obscurity I was being vaulted into a whole other realm in a matter of days,” the 33-year-old laughs. “It’s crazy. A great kind of crazy.”