A Very Nice Performance

[L Verge]

My grandson and I were able to attend a First Friday program in historic Port Tobacco, Maryland, this evening. After a short meeting describing the progress that is being made on the restoration of Rich Hill, the ca. 1729 home of Col. Samuel Cox, who figures in the Booth escape, "Mr. John Wilkes Booth," himself, appeared and offered an in-depth presentation on the thoughts that raced through his head as he languished in the pine thicket near Rich Hill, awaiting the assistance of Thomas Jones to cross the Potomac.

Our own David Taylor gave a very dramatic performance as the fugitive Booth, complete with splinted broken leg and emotional outbursts related to his chagrin at finding that he is not being hailed as a national hero, but rather a villain. Opening and closing narratives were given by Kate Ramirez, also in period garb; and the closing sequence in which Dave transforms from Booth into a modern historian to show that Booth's deed only served to reinforce our country's creed that all men are created equal - the true accomplishment of which has yet to be fully attained.

Over 100 people crowded into the reconstructed colonial courthouse on Port Tobacco Square and gave "Mr. Booth" an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Great job, Dave and Kate. The Booth family would have approved of your thespian talents.

On April 7, we will return to Port Tobacco for a presentation by Kate as Mary Surratt and another gentleman who will take on the role of George Atzerodt.

[LincolnMan]

Sounds wonderful. I'm assuming Booth's dialogue comes from his writings?

[Dave Taylor]

I'm glad you were able to make it out for the performance, Laurie. It was unlike anything I have previously attempted and, as Kate can attest to, I was very nervous about completely freezing up when the moment came. Yet, in spite of some nerves that tripped me up near the beginning of the show, I felt that I got better as it went on.

Bill, I wrote the play by using a great deal of Booth's own writings from his diary and from his "To Whom it May Concern" letter. For the words that were not Booth's words directly, I tried to extrapolate the best I could on how he would have thought and reacted. Ironically, I had several people after the event tell me how my tone was uncomfortably reminiscent of some of our modern politicians and leaders.

For those interested in viewing the performance, I put it up on BoothieBarn: https://boothiebarn.com/2017/03/04/an-ev...kes-booth/

[Thomas Kearney]

Dave, with that performance, you passed Jesse Johnson to be the best portrayal of JWB all time. A couple things, you got the costume down, broken fibula and crutch were a great accessory. Booth's thoughts are excellent, I could see JWB thinking those things. Excellent performance. Wish I could have been there.

If Port Tobacco needs me, I'm willing to step out of my twin Payne's comfort zone and take on George Atzerodt.

---

PS: Fairmount Park says it will make a decision any day now. Cross your fingers

[L Verge]

If one believes that Booth shaved off the mustache at Mudd's, I will offer this defense in Dave's having grown one for this performance: one of my biggest problems with first-person presentations of famous people is that I want the performer to look like the person they are portraying. I had reservations as to whether or not Dave could achieve this -- and with the mustache, he did.

My grandson and I arrived early and were sitting in the car (about fifty feet from the courthouse) when a young man with dark hair and mustache and in modern jeans and leather jacket came out of the building to move his car. I did not recognize that it was Dave until he got closer to me; he did indeed look like Booth, even in modern clothes. By the time he was clothed in period garb with a slouch hat on his head, he was 98% JWB to me. His dialogue and the emotion that he put into it completed the transformation IMO.

I just have to say that there were several times that I was afraid Dave would actually end up with a broken leg! He entered stage left shortly before the entire evening commenced, hobbled to what is actually a fairly high raised platform which is always there in the courthouse to represent the judge(s)' raised dais of colonial times, and had to hoist himself up with one leg and a crutch. He plopped (and I do mean plopped) down on his blanket with the left leg stiff from the splint and bandaging. Throughout the first portion of the meeting (about 20 minutes), he remained in character - reading newspapers, writing a bit, etc.

During the performance, there were several times that he stood to deliver his lines and then would plop back down (you probably see that on the video). Achieving those moves with the crutch on a slippery, wooden floor was definitely a problem, and I had visions of him falling off the stage at one point. All I could envision was him ending up with a more serious break than the real JWB!