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| Jill Whelan and Chrystee Pharria in Lady Patriot (Maria Baranova) |
Playwright and director Ted Lange has said he referenced around 27 books on the Civil War for his new play Lady Patriot, and it shows. The story that initially inspired him was the true-life exploits of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Southern woman who spied for the North during the Civil War. Van Lew even sent freed slave Mary Bowser to work as a servant in the household of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, where Bowser gathered intel to help the Union cause.
If only he'd kept his attention on these two fearless females, played effectively by Jill Whelan and Chrystee Pharris. But their activities too often take a back seat to scenes of domestic distress between Jefferson Davis (Gordon Goodman) and his entitled, prejudiced wife Varina (Josie DiVincenzo), and ones involving military maneuvers with a member of his cabinet, Jewish Southerner Judah P. Benjamin (Derek Emerson Powell).
As the Civil War rages, the struggles of Old Robert (Count Stoval), one of the Davis's slaves, add a touching, personal counterpoint to the story. Having lost his family when they were sold years ago, he finds hope in the future thanks to Mary, who teaches him how to read and allows him to imagine a life post-slavery.
There'e enough material here for an eight-episode streaming series on, say Apple TV+ (which already has Manhunt, about the search for John Wilkes Booth). Speaking of TV connections, the show has been promoted as a Love Boat reunion with Lange, who played the ship's groovy bartender Isaac on that 1970s TV classic, working with former costars Whelan and Fred Grandy, who shows up in Lady Patriot's second act as Northern journalist Slydell.
Don't look for any other similarities between the two projects. The lighthearted escapism of Love Boat is as far removed from Lady Patriot's perceptive exploration of characters from different spheres who intersect at a critical period in American history. Lange's cast is sound. Stoval delivers the most affecting performance, but the entire cast, especially the women, deliver memorable portraits. One has to admire Lange for giving everyone, including the pro-slavers, a chance to have their say, but I wished he'd focused he'd lens on Elizabeth and Mary. These are women who deserve an in-depth telling of their stories.
