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| Samantha Chandler and Keith Eisner as Mary and John Brown |
Set in the turbulent years prior to the Civil War, the story focuses on the long-suffering
spouse of the controversial abolitionist who lead the famous raid on Harper’s
Ferry.
Gibson,
a local poet and author, has long admired John Brown, the man who "killed slavery, sparked the Civil War, and seeded civil rights." From her work with NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality in Milwaukee in the 1960s to her ongoing civil rights activism, she has remained dedicated the pursuit of equality. As she studied Brown's life history, she decided to tell the story of John's wife, Mary Brown: their marriage, their life together, and her eventual rejection of violence. After working on this play for a number of years, she invited Sky Myers, an experienced playwright and director, to collaborate with her on bringing the project to fruition. The play is now a blend of both their efforts.
Myers has been making theater for 25 years. After graduating from Evergreen and then earning an MFA in Writing for Stage and Screen at the University of Arizona, she returned to Olympia in the 1990s to co-found and manage The Midnight Sun Performance Space
with Barbara Zelano. She had taken a hiatus from theater for a several years and now says she is thrilled to return to the world of theater.
Gibson
says: “I have always admired John Brown: his many years of fighting to abolish
slavery, his skill at enlisting others who had money and influence to aid in
the struggle, and his absolute and personal dedication to the cause. A book by
David S. Reynolds about John Brown which has as its subtitle: ‘The Man
Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights’ renewed my
interest in Brown, especially in light of my experiences in the civil rights
movement in the '60s. As I read more about John, I began to wonder about
his wife, Mary. I knew that she was a woman whom John both loved and
respected. I visited their cabin in N. Elba, near Lake Placid, New York,
where I got a vivid picture of their simple way of life. And eventually I began
to imagine what happened between this man, obsessed with a righteous cause, and
his wife, who bore him 13 children, several of whom died as infants, and who
came to oppose his use of violence after his experiences in the bloody Kansas
wars. Mary and John's life together came to a tragic end as a result of the
unsuccessful raid he and his comrades waged at Harper's Ferry, for which he was
executed by hanging. But as we know from the popular old ballad, ‘John
Brown's Body Lies A'mouldring in the Grave... But His Truth Goes Marching On...’
And Mary Brown's dedication to non-violence, and her interest in the
independence of women, are issues of importance that remain unresolved today.”
Meyers says: “In mid-2010 Barbara
had a draft done when she contacted me about essentially, ‘script doctoring.’ I
read her draft of Scenes from the Life of Mary Brown and came up with a written
plan/outline to strengthen the dramatic action throughout and develop cohesive
character arcs for each of the main characters. The new outline called for writing
a few new scenes and rewrites of a several others. Six months later when I
contacted Barbara to see how the rewrite was going, she asked me to be more
involved — to do the rewrite based on the things we both agreed the script
needed. I began rewriting it in 2011, and we worked on it together on and off
for about a year. Once we had a new draft completed, we held a public reading
at the library with local actors and friends. It was at this time that I fully
realized the power of the work, and the interest that everybody had in it. It
was also clear that our voices had melded and the script felt and sounded like
the work of a single person. We were both thrilled! Samantha Chandler and Keith
Eisner were at that first reading. Both expressed interest in acting in
the play and were later cast in the two leads. Samantha approached Olympia
Family Theater where she is Managing Director, and they agreed to tag it onto
the end of their regular season. Barbara felt strongly that I should
direct the play, so I agreed.”
Meyers also says: “Mary Brown struggled with issues that
hold relevance to contemporary audiences, and I focused my attention on finding
those bridges of experience. Mary questions whether violence is ever justified,
stands up to racial injustice, and deals with those who return from battle
traumatized. She endures impoverishment and the death of her children to
violence. She asks whether or not any cause is worth that. She strives to
reconcile her own beliefs with her husband's religious zealotry, and
ultimately, she finds her own way. This is a great story and one that allowed
us to be more imaginative. The historical facts became the context in which we
imagined the play. It is, after all, imaginary.”
In addition to
Chandler and Eisner, the cast members are: Sara Geiger and Hannah Sampson as John Brown’s daughters, Jeremy
Holien as his son, Edsonya Charles as Mrs. Epps (free Negro and friend to Mary),
Debbie Sampson as the famous Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott, Reneeka
Massey-Jones as the runaway slave Savannah, Rick Pearlstein as a bounty hunter,
and Tom Lockhart as a Southern man.
Musical accompaniment by the five-piece
ensemble of Steve Mazepa, Molly Robertson, Michael Hays, Donna Pallo-Perez, and
John Morgan will feature original arrangements of Negro spirituals and popular
songs of the era.
The Abolitionist’s Wife opens Friday night, June 21 at 8 p.m. and runs through Saturday, July 6. There
will be a pay-what-you-can performance Sunday, June 23 at 8 p.m. Performances take place at the Olympia Family Theater Playspace, 112 State Ave NE, Olympia.
Director- Sky Myers
Set/Lights by Jill Carter
Costumes Kathy Anderson
Sound Design John Manini
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