Necessary Sacrifices: Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
Written by Richard Hellesen; Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson
The Abraham Lincoln that David Selby portrays in Ford’s Theatre’s recent play Necessary Sacrifices is not what you might expect. He’s no stiff-backed, stentorian-voiced orator with kingly bearing, and he’s certainly not a two-dimensional image staring down from a classroom wall. This Lincoln is stooped over and feeling his age, speaking with a high-pitched, nasal voice that seems to belong at a backyard barbecue, not inside the White House.
Selby’s characterization is lively, surprising and, by most accounts, fairly accurate. He has considerable experience playing Lincoln, having previously done so on television and also in Ford’s acclaimed production The Heavens Are Hung in Black. For Necessary Sacrifices, Lincoln is portrayed in the war’s later years, during two documented meetings with famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1863 and 1864. Douglass uses his private audiences with Lincoln to advocate for fair treatment and pay for African-American soldiers.
As portrayed by Craig Wallace, who gamely took over the role with only days to spare when another actor withdrew, Douglass is righteous, demanding and generally humorless, although still sympathetic. The play is arranged as a two-headed conversation, but the audience is meant to see things from Douglass’ point of view, as he is frustrated, enlightened and inspired by the president. At one point Lincoln says that the people must be carefully led to the point where they can accept African Americans as full citizens, worthy of equal pay and positions. “So lead them!” Douglass commands.
It’s fascinating to see Douglass so thoroughly disarmed by the folksy president, who offers him both coffee and his own chair. Still, Douglass doesn’t pull too many punches in their exchange.
The play delves into some of the war’s most trenchant ideas— leadership, compromise, equity, reconciliation—which is both a blessing and curse. Although watching it is always interesting and edifying, it sometimes feels more like a college seminar than a work of art. More passion and emotion, and more showing and not telling, might have benefited the production.
Ford’s commissioned the play as part of a series of events surrounding the opening of its new Center for Education and Leadership, which will examine Lincoln’s legacy through museum exhibits, educational materials, lectures and events.
Although the theater currently has no plans to stage the play again, that could still happen. It is available for production at other venues around the country, and here’s hoping that happens. The opportunity to pull back the curtain on two of American history’s most important thinkers is a privilege any audience should savor.
Originally published in the June 2012 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.