Wed. Jan 16, 2019, 7:30pm
“Ben Butler”
a FREE play reading at the
Players Ring
105 Marcy St., Portsmouth.
Ben Butler, a Union general, had just arrived as commander of Ft. Monroe in Virginia in 1861 when three Black men asked him for sanctuary.
Should he honor the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and return the men to their “owner”? This is the central question of Richard Strand’s “Ben Butler,” a surprisingly witty, as well as serious, play that will be read by local actors Wednesday, Jan 16, 7:30 pm, at Players’ Ring, 105 Marcy Street, Portsmouth. Butler’s decision, according to historians, helped steer the direction of the Civil War.
Generic Theatre’s monthly play readings are free and open to the public. Readers will be Roland Goodbody, Kevin Wade Mitchell, Helen Brock, and Peter Michaud, with Cathy Wolff reading stage directions. There will be time after the reading for audience questions and discussion.
The New York Times, in a review of the premiere in 2014, notes it is “clever without being glib, meaningful without being pretentious. It’s a funny and impressive mixture…. Splendid… a hoot.”
