"A Ghostly Witness" Appears in Portsmouth

How did Rebecca Cornell die?  The more you explore the details of the her death in 1673, the more complex it becomes.  Uncovering the details of the death is just what I have been doing.  As part of the Portsmouth 375th Anniversary, the Portsmouth Community Theater was asked to think about doing a play based on the death of the matriarch of one of Portsmouth oldest families.  As the “history geek” of the group, I began to dig into the details.  I knew the basic story because it was one of the “history mysteries” I told to my fourth grade library students at Elmhurst School.   Basically, an elderly widow dies in a small fire and her son is accused of murder.  Little about the death appears in the standard histories and town records.  Cornell family genealogies often skip over the details of the case.  What does exist is the actual trial transcripts.

Thankfully, transcriber Jane Fletcher Fiske had deciphered the handwritten transcripts and made them available to researchers.  I know from experience how difficult it is to decipher colonial writing.  Fiske’s transcripts of the trial were the starting point for our script. This was a collaborative effort of three of us. Community Theater President Cindy Killavey began the process by working out how we would introduce the story and she began the script. My husband Richard Schmidt and I worked on other segments of the script.   We wrestled with making the court statements into a form that was true to the text but understandable to our audience (and actors). Elaine Forman Crane’s book Killed Strangely, the Death of Rebecca Cornell, helped us to understand the historical background to the testimony.  It clarified who the witnesses were and what was the significance of their testimony.  

This play is a community effort.  Cindy Killavey, an experienced actress and director, has been working through the staging - how we will physically present the play.  Students, amateur thespians and seasoned professionals are among the fifteen actors portraying the witnesses.  The audience will be given the chance to play the role of jurors!  

Following the trial there will be a presentation of three short stories that deal with the dark side of Portsmouth’s past.  Two of the stories are about real events in the Glen area and another is a spooky story written by Pete Kelly.  The play and stories are not suitable for young children.  

The “World Premier” of our new play, “The Ghostly Witness:  the untimely and uncertain death of Rebecca Cornell,” takes place on the stage at the Aquidneck Island Christian Academy on East Main Road in Portsmouth.   There are three performances only - Saturday, Oct 5th at 7PM.  Sunday, Oct 6th at 2PM and 7PM.  Tickets are $10, $8 for military and seniors.  They are available at the door.  Don’t miss your chance to be part of this event in Portsmouth history.