Interesting Day at the Old Surratt Hacienda

[L Verge]

On Sunday, I received an email at home from one of my weekend staff members alerting me to the probability that a theatrical production company would be at Surratt House at 8 am on Wednesday (today) to take photos of the exterior and grounds. I responded to the email address that I was given and welcomed them.

I did not hear back, but when I arrived at work this morning, there were at least 16 actors and actresses in period garb on the lawn. They are putting the final touches on a production based on Mary Surratt and the Lincoln assassination and were using our house and grounds for publicity purposes - posters, videos, still shots, and more. I greeted everyone from Mary and Anna Surratt, Nora Fitzpatrick, Louis Weichmann, John Matthews, JAG Holt, and Aunt Rachel Hawkins.

The actor playing Matthews had never seen a picture of Booth's friend. We grabbed Tom Bogar's wonderful book and showed him Matthews.The gentleman playing Frederick Aiken did not know much of the lawyer's history because there is very little published on him except for the outstanding work done by Christine Christensen. I quickly located a copy of the Surratt Courier that carried the lengthy bio of Aiken and made a young actor very happy.

The young man playing Weichmann is having a hard time deciphering that figure's personality and is trying to determine whether to portray him as firm and upright or scared and vindictive. Aunt Rachel told me that she found reference to the former slave living to be 125. I have my doubts, but she promised to send me the citation. The last info we had on Rachel was from an Evening Star interview back in 1892. She was an invalid confined to bed at that time. From what we can determine, Rachel and Mary Surratt were about the same age. That would make Rachel about 75 in 1892. Living another fifty years seems rather unlikely.

I was very impressed with how much reading most of the young people had done on the subject and on their respective characters. Several were perturbed that the playwright had inserted some wrong history, and they were being forced to repeat it. For a change, I kept my opinions to myself...

They remained on site until about 2 pm, in costume most of the time, except for when they took a Subway lunch break in our picnic area. Our temperatures and humidity were in the 80s today, so they got a good feel for what our ancestors endured.

When they left, they were headed to Georgetown to find some cobbled stone streets to work with. I suspect some Georgetown bars were making beer money off of them by 4 pm.

Tomorrow, they head back to home base in NYC. I don't have the title of this play yet, but they promised to keep us updated. They will be back in D.C. in July for a trial performance at the Atlas Theatre. Then it's back to New York for an off-Broadway showing. They call themselves The Wandering Theatre Company, so watch for them. I also passed along some email addresses for some of our scholars that I thought might be of help on short notice if needed.

[John Fazio]

On Sunday, I received an email at home from one of my weekend staff members alerting me to the probability that a theatrical production company would be at Surratt House at 8 am on Wednesday (today) to take photos of the exterior and grounds. I responded to the email address that I was given and welcomed them.

I did not hear back, but when I arrived at work this morning, there were at least 16 actors and actresses in period garb on the lawn. They are putting the final touches on a production based on Mary Surratt and the Lincoln assassination and were using our house and grounds for publicity purposes - posters, videos, still shots, and more. I greeted everyone from Mary and Anna Surratt, Nora Fitzpatrick, Louis Weichmann, John Matthews, JAG Holt, and Aunt Rachel Hawkins.

The actor playing Matthews had never seen a picture of Booth's friend. We grabbed Tom Bogar's wonderful book and showed him Matthews.The gentleman playing Frederick Aiken did not know much of the lawyer's history because there is very little published on him except for the outstanding work done by Christine Christensen. I quickly located a copy of the Surratt Courier that carried the lengthy bio of Aiken and made a young actor very happy.

The young man playing Weichmann is having a hard time deciphering that figure's personality and is trying to determine whether to portray him as firm and upright or scared and vindictive. Aunt Rachel told me that she found reference to the former slave living to be 125. I have my doubts, but she promised to send me the citation. The last info we had on Rachel was from an Evening Star interview back in 1892. She was an invalid confined to bed at that time. From what we can determine, Rachel and Mary Surratt were about the same age. That would make Rachel about 75 in 1892. Living another fifty years seems rather unlikely.

I was very impressed with how much reading most of the young people had done on the subject and on their respective characters. Several were perturbed that the playwright had inserted some wrong history, and they were being forced to repeat it. For a change, I kept my opinions to myself...

They remained on site until about 2 pm, in costume most of the time, except for when they took a Subway lunch break in our picnic area. Our temperatures and humidity were in the 80s today, so they got a good feel for what our ancestors endured.

When they left, they were headed to Georgetown to find some cobbled stone streets to work with. I suspect some Georgetown bars were making beer money off of them by 4 pm.

Tomorrow, they head back to home base in NYC. I don't have the title of this play yet, but they promised to keep us updated. They will be back in D.C. in July for a trial performance at the Atlas Theatre. Then it's back to New York for an off-Broadway showing. They call themselves The Wandering Theatre Company, so watch for them. I also passed along some email addresses for some of our scholars that I thought might be of help on short notice if needed.

Laurie:

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it with us.

John

[tom82baur]

I looked them up and found this:
"Our ensemble of Lanie Robertson's new play "The Trial of Mrs. Surratt" exploring the Viewpoints in rehearsal. Photography by Hadley E. Mueller.
"The Trial of Mrs. Surratt" is Written by Lanie Robertson, Directed by Natalie Villamonte Zito, Music Direction by Jacob W. Patorti"


"The Wandering Theatre Company added 104 new photos from May 11 to the album: Viewpoint Rehearsal Photography — with Kate McGarrigle and 7 others in New York, New York.


These pics all appear to be from their studio around May 11, but I thought that perhaps some of the faces might be familiar from the visit today.


https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingthe...fref=photo

---

Scroll down that page..... there is a video of the rehearsal, more pics and ....this: "We are beyond excited to announce our new piece for 2016!! Our Artistic Director Natalie Villamonte Zito and our new company friend Lanie Robertson are teaming up once again, bringing The Trial of Mrs. Surratt to life this summer!! And this year we will be Wandering to Vermont, Washington, D.C. and of course our home sweet home New York City!!! Stay tuned for updates! <3 The Wandering Theatre Company"

https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingthe...=3&theater

They will be 'wandering to Washington, DC"!

[RJNorton]

Thanks for posting this, Laurie.

Tom, thanks for posting the information and links. Looks fascinating.

[L Verge]

I looked them up and found this:
"Our ensemble of Lanie Robertson's new play "The Trial of Mrs. Surratt" exploring the Viewpoints in rehearsal. Photography by Hadley E. Mueller.
"The Trial of Mrs. Surratt" is Written by Lanie Robertson, Directed by Natalie Villamonte Zito, Music Direction by Jacob W. Patorti"


"The Wandering Theatre Company added 104 new photos from May 11 to the album: Viewpoint Rehearsal Photography — with Kate McGarrigle and 7 others in New York, New York.


These pics all appear to be from their studio around May 11, but I thought that perhaps some of the faces might be familiar from the visit today.


https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingthe...fref=photo

---

Scroll down that page..... there is a video of the rehearsal, more pics and ....this: "We are beyond excited to announce our new piece for 2016!! Our Artistic Director Natalie Villamonte Zito and our new company friend Lanie Robertson are teaming up once again, bringing The Trial of Mrs. Surratt to life this summer!! And this year we will be Wandering to Vermont, Washington, D.C. and of course our home sweet home New York City!!! Stay tuned for updates! <3 The Wandering Theatre Company"

https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingthe...=3&theater

They will be 'wandering to Washington, DC"!

Thanks for this. I don't have Facebook, so if anyone knows how to transfer at least the photos, I would appreciate it greatly. Natalie and her assistant, Melissa, were both here for the shoots and both were great to work with.

Their professional photographer was outstanding. He set up a laptop on a counter near my office, would go outside for shoots for about a half-hour, come back in long enough for his camera to talk to his laptop, and then go creative. Some of the photos that he managed to "photoshop" into something different were remarkable.

Lanie Robertson is the playwright, but was not with them this time. Natalie said that he has worked on this script for 15 years. That reminded me of the playwright that we worked with for 20 years before his script was finally transformed into The Conspirator by Robert Redford and the American Film Company.

We have also had a longtime relationship with a local playwright, Rich Amada, who has a play about the Judicial Murder of Mary Surratt. About a decade or so ago, they performed a staged reading for one of the Surratt banquets and also a similar event at the old boardinghouse. That time, it really caused me to wonder if Mrs. Surratt's ghost would appear (for real). It would have been strange for the lady to watch her fate unfold in what would have been the dining room of her former home, amidst a setting of Chinese/Japanese food and sushi!

[tom82baur]

There is a non-Facebook website.
http://www.thewanderingtheatrecompany.or...e?i=253565


Here is an interesting Playbill website that is a casting call for the play, with lots of info about it.

Here is an excerpt:
This play is a surreal, historical exploration of the trial and final days of Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. Mary's crime...? She owned and operated a boarding house that John Wilkes Booth and conspirators frequented. This play bends time jumping back and forth from the daily life of the characters leading up to Lincoln's assassination, to the trial itself. There is singing in the play although this is NOT a musical (the sound of the piece is Virginia soulful folk bluegrass, a cappella with natural percussions and tambourine - Please listen to Steel Wheels "Rain in the Valley" & "Surround Me" to get a feeling for the musical sound we are going for), we will be modernizing old Civil War songs.

This play will preview in Vermont in June, will Premiere at the Capital Fringe Festival in D.C. in July and will have a two week Off-Off Broadway run in August/September.

http://www.playbill.com/job/theatre-arti...rs-singers

[L Verge]

There is a non-Facebook website.
http://www.thewanderingtheatrecompany.or...e?i=253565


Here is an interesting Playbill website that is a casting call for the play, with lots of info about it.

Here is an excerpt:
This play is a surreal, historical exploration of the trial and final days of Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. Mary's crime...? She owned and operated a boarding house that John Wilkes Booth and conspirators frequented. This play bends time jumping back and forth from the daily life of the characters leading up to Lincoln's assassination, to the trial itself. There is singing in the play although this is NOT a musical (the sound of the piece is Virginia soulful folk bluegrass, a cappella with natural percussions and tambourine - Please listen to Steel Wheels "Rain in the Valley" & "Surround Me" to get a feeling for the musical sound we are going for), we will be modernizing old Civil War songs.

This play will preview in Vermont in June, will Premiere at the Capital Fringe Festival in D.C. in July and will have a two week Off-Off Broadway run in August/September.

http://www.playbill.com/job/theatre-arti...rs-singers

Oh dear. I see that an old, outworn canard about "relationships" amidst the men is popping its head up once again. This might be part of the bad history that several of the actors were referring to.

Susan - I was also introduced to Honora Fitzpatrick as part of the ensemble not mentioned here.

[Gene C]

That playbill link was enlightening......from that website

Anna Surratt: (18, Female. Featured Singer) Mary's daughter, naive, innocent, impressionable; close to her mother; infatuated with John Wilkes Booth; brave, honest.

John Surratt: (21, Male. Featured Singer) Mary's son, confederate, ex-seminary student, secretly in love with John Wilkes Booth, suspected conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in Lincoln assassination plot; former classmate of Louis Weichmann.

Louis Wiechmann: (23, Male) Boarding house renter, actor, uptight, harbors secret feelings for John Surratt, chief witness in the trial of Mrs. Surratt. [Actor that is cast must be okay with kissing a male onstage]

John Wilkes Booth: (27, Male. Featured Singer) Devastatingly handsome, extremely charismatic, actor, very flirtatious with everyone, persuasive, charming, masculine, bisexual, patriot, confederate, extremist. [Actor that is cast must be okay with kissing a male onstage


*** Except for my age, (I'm over 30) and that bisexual, and confederate part, I am a dead ringer to play Booth. ***

[Susan Higginbotham]

Don't poor Mary and Nora get to harbor secret feelings for anyone? Bummer.

[L Verge]

Don't poor Mary and Nora get to harbor secret feelings for anyone? Bummer.

I can easily see both Anna (who was 22) and Nora becoming all giggly at the thought of John Wilkes Booth becoming an acquaintance. I also think Mary would have encouraged a John + Anna relationship at first. Once Mary became aware of Booth's activities, however, I think she became strictly business.

As for Mary's behavior around Booth, I just cannot see her infatuated with him in any sense of that word. Motherly - maybe; friendly - probably; sympathetic to his original plot - yes. Anything further than that I just can't fathom. She had had enough problems with the men in her life as it was; to heck with adding on to the stress.

[tom82baur]

Well, DC locals, mark your calendars! According to the Playbill site The Trial of Mary Surratt "will Premiere at the Capital Fringe Festival in D.C. in July". Anyone available to attend the Premiere and report back?

[davg2000]

That playbill link was enlightening......from that website

Anna Surratt: (18, Female. Featured Singer) Mary's daughter, naive, innocent, impressionable; close to her mother; infatuated with John Wilkes Booth; brave, honest.

John Surratt: (21, Male. Featured Singer) Mary's son, confederate, ex-seminary student, secretly in love with John Wilkes Booth, suspected conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in Lincoln assassination plot; former classmate of Louis Weichmann.

Louis Wiechmann: (23, Male) Boarding house renter, actor, uptight, harbors secret feelings for John Surratt, chief witness in the trial of Mrs. Surratt. [Actor that is cast must be okay with kissing a male onstage]

John Wilkes Booth: (27, Male. Featured Singer) Devastatingly handsome, extremely charismatic, actor, very flirtatious with everyone, persuasive, charming, masculine, bisexual, patriot, confederate, extremist. [Actor that is cast must be okay with kissing a male onstage


*** Except for my age, (I'm over 30) and that bisexual, and confederate part, I am a dead ringer to play Booth. ***

Hilarious!

[Pamela]

I agree that it's odd that the women were left out of the bisexual angle. The womens' characters are all Victorian pure which, I guess, does seem "surreal" next to all the bisexual male characters. I think an interesting story would pick up on "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer" and depict the Surratt boarding house as a nest of vampires exacting revenge on Lincoln for his actions in his early days. The executions could be interesting, too, since I think hanging wouldn't kill a vampire. The secret societies that Booth supposedly became involved can add to the vampire angle, as does the horrible number of civil war deaths.

[KateH.]

Well, DC locals, mark your calendars! According to the Playbill site The Trial of Mary Surratt "will Premiere at the Capital Fringe Festival in D.C. in July". Anyone available to attend the Premiere and report back?

I told Dave we might have to attend to see if this show dives straight off the cliff it seems to be racing toward

I looked through some of the rehearsal pictures and was rather amused to see the characters scaling the walls like Spider-man. Sit down, people. It's jail not a jungle gym. Also, some advice for John Surratt, if you don't want to give your friend Weichmann any romantic ideas, don't hug him with your legs around his waist. That's not how you hug your friends.

[Thomas Kearney]

Where's my twin Payne in this production? I could win an award if I portrayed him.