World Premiere of "BUTLER"
by Richard Strand Now Playing at NJ Rep
a recipient of a prestigious Edgerton Foundation New American Plays
Award and is based on real life events that changed the lives of more
than 10,000 slaves. The play begins at the start of the Civil War and
Butler, a successful Massachusetts lawyer in civilian life has just been
promoted to Major General and is given command of Fort Monroe, a Union
hold-out in the state of Virginia.
The Fort, situated in a highly strategic location between North and South, was
considered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee to be a great threat to
Richmond, a center of Confederate strength. By the time Butler assumed command,
he was thrust into the thick of things and was already considered by his
superiors to be a prickly individual who had a tendency to bend orders and to
over-step authority. It is this independence of spirit that ultimately leads to
the explosive situation that becomes the central event of the play.
The
catalyst that sets these events in motion is the unexpected appearance of Shepard Mallory, a runaway slave, who
requests sanctuary at the fort. However, the law of the land at the time has
not yet changed and slaves are still considered property that must be turned
over to their "rightful owners". This is tantamount to a
death-sentence and Butler is confronted with a daunting moral dilemma.
