For Immediate Release
February 28, 2023
Press Contact: Michael Kyrioglou
michael.kyrioglou@gmail.com
Washington Stage Guild Wraps Up Season With
Richard Strand’s Civil War Set BEN BUTLER
Pay-What-You-Can Performances March 23 – 25, 2023 with
Opening/Press Performance March 26 at 2:30 pm.
Washington, DC — The Washington Stage Guild closes its 2022-2023 season, a “Season of Transitions,” with the area premiere of Ben Butler by Richard Strand, directed by Helen Hayes Award winner Kasi Campbell (The Dazzle, Rep Stage). Performances begin March 23 – 25 with four Pay-What-You-Can previews and run until April 16, 2023 at the Washington Stage Guild’s home, The Undercroft Theatre in the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Opening/Press performance is Sunday, March 26 at 2:30 pm.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Union general, Ben Butler, a lawyer before the Civil War, commands a fort in not-yet-seceded Virginia. When a runaway enslaved man named Shepard Mallory arrives making an eloquent plea for sanctuary, whose laws must the general follow? When secession happens, he looks for every loophole he can to avoid returning the young man to the Confederacy. Based on a true story.
“Part comedy, part historical drama, and part biography. The beauty of the script…is how it approaches thorny topics [with] wordplay that is by turns sarcastic, droll, and witty” – New York Times
“…an extraordinary, artful script…a timeless exploration of social conscience and individual responsibility” – BroadwayWorld
“Richard Strand’s Ben Butler takes an actual event that took place in not-quite-yet seceded Virginia, and imagines it as a clever duel of wits,” says Artistic Director Bill Largess. “With more humor than you might imagine, Strand turns the struggle over the fate of an escaped enslaved man into a suspenseful story in which a Union general, a former lawyer, must find a loophole that allows him to bend the law without breaking it. We’re pleased to have director Kasi Campbell returning to the Stage Guild to guide this strong cast.”
“The audacious combination of wit and humor with fierce verbal sparring was so unexpected when I read this play whose plot is grounded in an actual Civil War event,” says director Kasi Campbell. “While race, politics and inequality fueled bloody conflict on the battlefield, Strand’s play confines his combat zone for these issues to four walls and the shared humanity its inhabitants must somehow find. I love those unusual plays that wed laughter with deep import, and I hope audiences will share my enthusiasm for Strand’s inventive approach and the play’s resonance with current debates.”
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Richard Strand is the author of The Bug and The Death of Zukasky, both of which premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival. Ten Percent of Molly Snyder premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre, and My Simple City premiered at Chicago’s Rivendell Ensemble and was nominated for best new script by both the American Drama Critics Association and the Joseph Jefferson Committee. Other productions include Clown, produced by Victory Gardens Theater and The Lincoln Park Zoo which premiered at Geva Theatre under the direction of Anthony Zerbe. The Second-Story Man was developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis. Ben Butler received its premiere production at the New Jersey Repertory Theatre.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The cast of Ben Butler includes WSG Associate Artistic Director Steven Carpenter (Maj. John B. Cary), recently director of this season’s Major Barbara. His recent performances with WSG include Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Bloomsday and Hard Times, and as a director, Major Barbara, Sam & Dede, Resolving Hedda, Red Herring, Opus, and The Underpants, among others, as well as numerous regional productions including Thief River at Theater Alliance for which he received a Helen Hayes Award nomination. The cast also features Yury Lomakin (Lieut. Kelly), last seen at WSG in Summerland, also directed by Kasi Campbell, Dracula and Meteor Shower with Cumberland Theatre, Red Velvet and Anne of the Thousand Days with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, and Circle Mirror Transformation with Rep Stage; Stephen Patrick Martin (Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler), returning to WSG having appeared in this season’s Major Barbara, and also seen in Round House Theatre’s Glengarry Glen Ross, and various productions in the Baltimore/Washington area including Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Ford’s Theatre, and Theater J among others; and Theodore Sapp (Shepard Mallory), an actor, singer, voiceover artist, and musician who has been a part of musical and theatrical productions nationally and in the Washington, DC area, and has performed with a variety of ensembles, including the American Pops Orchestra.
Ben Butler is directed by Kasi Campbell who has previously directed several Stage Guild productions including Memories of a Forgotten Man, Bloomsday, Summerland, Alabama Story, Tryst, Pen, and Elling. Her other credits include Theater J’s The Sisters Rosensweig, Rep Stage’s H2O, The Whale, Hamlet, Arcadia, Translations, The Dazzle, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?, The Judas Kiss, Yellowman, Kimberly Akimbo, The Temperamentals, Travels with My Aunt, The Violet Hour, The Swan, Faith Healer, and The Mystery of Irma Vep, among others; WSC Avant Bard: Night and Day; and Spooky Action Theater: Fool for Love. Her productions have garnered numerous Helen Hayes Award nominations over the years including four for Outstanding Director (for which she was the recipient for The Dazzle).
The production team includes Megan Holden (Scenic Design), Marianne Meadows (Lighting Design), Sigrid Johannesdottir (Costume Design), Neil McFadden (Sound Design), Paul Hope (Fight Choreographer), Carl Randolph (Moulage/Makeup FX), Dr. Sharita Thompson (Historical Advisor), and Arthur Nordlie (Production Stage Manager).
DATES & TICKETS
Ben Butler by Richard Strand runs March 23 to April 16, 2023 with performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2:30pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 2:30pm. The run begins with four Pay-What-You-Can performances Thursday, March 23 at 7:30pm, Friday, March 24 at 8pm, and Saturday, March 25 at 2:30pm & 8pm (Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased for any cash price at the door beginning one hour prior to curtain). Opening/Press performance is Sunday, March 26 at 2:30pm.
All tickets are General Admission, and are $50 Thursday & Saturday/Sunday matinees, $60 Friday & Saturday evenings. Student Admission is half-price with a valid Student ID. Senior Citizens 65 years and up get $10 OFF General Admission Prices. Groups of 10 or more get half-price tickets. Purchase at stageguild.org/buy-tickets/
ABOUT THE THEATRE
Founded in 1986 by a professional company of theatre artists dedicated to producing literate, challenging works in a collegial and supportive atmosphere, the Washington Stage Guild quickly established itself as an indispensable component of the DC area theatre scene, recognized as early as the end of the first season (1987) by The Washington Post. The ensemble theatre company’s acclaimed repertoire of neglected classics, unfamiliar works by familiar playwrights, and stimulating new plays from around the world is presented in a style that is the Guild’s own—direct and clear, with a strong commitment to adhering to the author’s intent.
