Mark Pracht and Thad Anzur in "The Copperhead."/Photo by Johnny Knight
City Lit (citylit.org) just announced the launch of a five-year sesquicentennial project, and it looks to be epic. They’re producing five shows to remember the Civil War, one each year. Four “haven’t been written yet,” says artistic director Terry McCabe, since they’re world-premiere commissions. This month’s production of Augustus Thomas’ “The Copperhead,” directed by Kathy Scambiatterra, will open the annual April series. It’s a forgotten play that tells the story of an Illinois man and his Southern sympathies during the Civil War. “Opus 1861,” next year’s installment to be directed and devised by Elizabeth Margolius and McCabe, is set in present-day Afghanistan and focuses on soldiers who find strength in songs from the Civil War period. The third installment, Maureen Gallagher’s “Comrades Mine: Emma Edmonds of the Union Army,” will tell the story of the only woman in U.S. history to receive an Army pension for military service when disguised as a man. Kristine Thatcher’s “Fugitive Slave” is installment four, and wrapping things up in year five will be “Confederates in the Attic,” McCabe’s adaptation of Tony Horwitz’s book. (Lauren Kelly-Jones)
Related Stories
Children of War: A Review of Elektra at Lyric Opera of Chicago The latest from Lyric Opera examines the consequences of national and international conflict on the lives and well-being of children.- War Is Never Won: A Review of The Falling and The Rising at Petite Opera Productions A stirring opera conceived by a U.S. Staff Sergeant and brought to life by composer Zach Redler and librettist Jerry Dye for the benefit of all.
- War and Love: A Review of Arms and the Man at City Lit Theater City Lit's production of this early work by George Bernard Shaw remains brilliantly funny in our time of appalling displays of vanity and greed.
- War, What Is It Good For: A Review of Harbur Gate at 16th Street Theater Ann Filmer and 16th Street Theater take on one of America's most time-honored professions: soldiering.
- Complexity is God: A Preview of “Long Run” at the Dance Center of Columbia College Tere O'Connor's new work finds its thematic roots in complexity, and tenders a paired down, aesthetic sparsity that concurrently riles and calms through carefully cultivated structures and forms.
- That’s Too Long for a Play: A Review of Love’s Labour’s Lost at Invictus Theatre Company At nearly three hours, this production from Invictus Theatre Company desperately needs shaking up.
