Major General Benjamin Butler, having left his legal practice, within a few weeks takes over his Union post at Fort Monroe. It’s 1861, just after Virginia has seceded from the U.S., so Butler finds himself in the thick of war. Faced with escaped Negro slaves seeking sanctuary and a law forbidding it, Butler will have to fight to square legal obligations with moral ones. He wages a battle of words that could have great repercussions. To delight audiences, playwright Richard Strand has fortified Butler with hilarious comedy, certainly more than typical in a “history play.”
From his sarcastic imperatives to his officer, West Point alum Lt. Kelly, regarding answering “demands” from the slaves, wonderful Eric Hoffman’s Butler characteristically blusters about how he hates “surprise” at their presence in the Fort and is “astonished” that anyone of lower rank would “demand” he deal with them. Yet that’s what happens when Butler is confronted by runaway Shepard Mallory (Shane Taylor, determined). Butler, sworn to uphold law and zealous about it, knows it requires runaway slaves be returned to their rightful owners. Mallory is convinced lawyers can “twist” laws and goads him. Can’t Mallory’s status be debated? Is he now a slave or a free man or what? Butler may be commanding and bold while also a bit soft-hearted, but he’s never less than smart and glib. Brash Mallory, showing he’s smart and equal in sense of self-worth, is just as desirous of “winning” what he wants. Both are arrogant yet appealing, but Taylor also reveals Mallory’s vulnerability under his aggressive facade. The men’s exchanges are all the more potent for being so funny, especially when they get on an unlikely first-name basis! Victory will be determined when the enemy, in the person of haughty Confederate Major Cary (Jim Sorenson, as a Cary who suffers what he thinks fools) who comes to collect Mallory for his owner. Cary’s blind-folded, not only symbolic of his prejudice against blacks, but because--as Mallory has revealed--he’s a fortifications expert hoping to spy. (Slaves became fortifications experts building them for the Confederates; Mallory’d like to do even better for the Union Army.) Full of what’s now called racial “attitude” as well as contempt for Butler, Cary engages him in legal “demands” to which Butler will parry with a word of surprise. Law will be upheld. Noting the battle, Lt. Kelly (Joe Ditmyer, sterling) initially indignant at Butler and racially prejudiced but changing, becomes fully adjusted to and approving of the General’s way of dealing with an amazing predicament. This play’s got everything: It’s informative but not factually overloaded, as comic as it is cogent, and it deals with an interesting subject in a provocative way. It has real characters, sharp debate, suitable structure, heightened dialogue, and very funny comedy.
Also as a production at Florida Studio Theater, Butler’s got everything: Jason Cannon’s astute direction, a perfect small office set full of the General’s still crated belongings, sensible period-evoking lighting, and sound bringing in the outside when called for. Costumes suit the drama perfectly and even the hair styles aid characterization. Everything comes in at just the right length, including a 15 minute intermission.
