June 18 will see the opening of the second season of Lincoln Amphitheatre’s LINCOLN: Upon the Altar of Freedom, an original two-act play with period music and multimedia effects. The story is set inside Lincoln’s mind from the time he was shot; there, audiences can experience an epic life that in many respects was born of his time spent growing up in Spencer County, Indiana.
Brandi Weyer, Communications Director at Lincoln Amphitheatre, describes the experience audience members can expect: “From the moment people step out of their car, they will have direct interaction with people from that time, that era, so they can get more of a relationship with how life and the times were during Lincoln’s growing up in Indiana,” she says.
Like last season, meals by Black Buggy are available; unlike last year, they are optional, so that ticket prices for the play itself have gone down. Whether you wish to enjoy a home style meal beforehand or not, Weyer gives an example of a quality visit to the Amphitheatre as such: “You can come at six and enjoy your meal, and then experience the Lincoln exhibit, which gives you a transition from his life as a boy in Indiana into his Illinois time and then his time in office, and it gives a detailed history of his assassination,” Weyer relates. “If you like,” she continues, “before the show you can walk the trails of Lincoln State Park – actually just down the road from the Amphitheatre itself is a church, and it has the gravesite of Sarah Grigsby, his sister.”
The production begins at 7:30 p.m. Central Time; it is a 90-minute production with two 15 minute intermissions, followed by a post-show Concert in the Park.
“Coming from a guest’s point of view, take a historical experience into account with the theatrical experience,” says Weyer. “Lincoln Amphitheatre itself is on the very grounds that Lincoln walked as a boy. Understanding the relationship of how the life he lived in Indiana affected his presidency – that’s the engagement you’ll see in the play.”
Returning to portray the 16th president is Los Angeles-based actor Geoffrey Wade; he will be accompanied by his real-life wife, Amelia White, who will play the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. Both will remain residents of the area throughout the play’s run, which is nightly continuing through August 7, with the exception of Mondays.
“He’s an absolutely fascinating character; he’s so human. And that’s the interesting challenge about it, too,” Wade says. “You find yourself playing a person and not an idea or a marble statue in Washington.”
Wade found the book Lincoln, written by David Herbert Donald, to be extremely helpful in researching the man he portrays. “I found that one particularly interesting,” says Wade. “He talked about Lincoln’s essentially passive nature, which is not something you would typically associate with Lincoln. That’s a very useful thing for an actor, because that’s a very human sort of trait. In many ways, that informed his ability to be a mediator, to be a consensus maker, to delay decisions, all of these things that in the end made him so great.”
As an actor, Wade is well aware of portraying Lincoln in a realistic way. “Everyone expects Lincoln to be this flowing, baritone, and graceful man,” Wade says. “And I say, ‘well, he was incredibly clumsy and he walked in this funny way like a monster; he had this high-pitched voice – that’s one of the few things that everyone agrees on: That he had a high-pitched voice, frequently described as piercing or shrill. I very much try to embody what I hope would be a realistic re-creation; I try to give him a northern Kentucky, southern Indiana, sort of western twang.”
Another actor playing the role of a towering figure in history is Chicago-based Allen Edge. In LINCOLN, Edge portrays black abolitionist, writer, orator and editor, Frederick Douglass as well as a fictional slave character named Moses. As Edge relates, “he (Douglass) had misgivings about Lincoln, but he did change his mind – it could be a general statement for people, especially in this country, of how you perceive people one moment until you actually see them up close or they put their lives up.”
Lincoln ultimately put his life up, becoming an instant martyr the moment he was assassinated. A legend was created instantly, and the human being, with all of his failings, doubts about himself, and personal tragedies – along with all of the wonderful traits he possessed – was somewhat lost, given to stone edifices, coinage and statues. It is, however, the flesh and blood human being that audiences get to see, hear and feel with LINCOLN. And both the human and the legend were made, if not born, to a great degree right here in our backyard.
As Allen Edge puts it, “I would encourage them [the audience] to kind of wipe off the white board and look at Lincoln afresh. They may see some things they never thought of; to me, whenever I see movies or documentaries about the childhood of certain people, it’s really interesting to see how they became who they were psychologically.”
And you don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy the play, but as Edge puts it, “If you weren’t, you will be.”
Quick Facts:
• LINCOLN: Upon the Altar of Freedom
• Nightly (excluding Mondays) June 18 through August 7 at Lincoln Amphitheatre inside Lincoln State Park.
• More information online at lincolnamphitheatre.com, by phone at 800-264-4223 and email at info@lincolnamphitheatre.com
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Courtesy of Lincoln Ampitheatre
