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Last night I attended a reading of the play called “A Walk to Respect.” Ostensibly about conversations between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the play was much more. It was also a remembrance, as the actor who was to play Lincoln passed away unexpectedly a few weeks before the performance. I’ll come back to that in a moment.
“A Walk to Respect” is produced by The Patterson Foundation,” a philanthropic organization whose focus”strengthens the efforts of people, organizations, and communities by focusing on issues that address common aspirations, foster wide participation, and encourage learning and sharing.” It’s founder, Jim Patterson, was the great-grandson of Joseph Medill, the owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune. Lincoln historians will recall that Medill’s Tribune helped create the Republican Party and get Abraham Lincoln elected to the presidency. Thus, it is altogether fitting and proper the Foundation was involved in creating this play.
Three tall wooden bar stools with simple backdrops make up the entirety of the set. Beth Duda comes on stage to explain that while she is listed as the playwright, she is actually the play compiler. All the words spoken by the two actors are those either spoken or written by Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. As the play unfolds, it is clear (at least to Lincoln and Douglass scholars) that she has compiled words taken from various speeches and blended them into a cohesive narrative. Sometimes there is banter between the two actors, other times they trade monologues. Jeffrey Atherton reconstructs Lincoln’s manner and voice, while Joel PE King does the same for Douglass. Both actors bring the passion of their subjects into their portrayals: Lincoln more subdued as was his nature, the political necessity of the times, and indeed, his white privilege; Douglass more fervent, in line with his more proximal association with slavery. The play seeks to show how Lincoln, while unburdened by personal slavery himself, could work through the system in order to put slavery on a path to its ultimate extinction…while Douglass, escaped from the brutality of slavery on his own family and person, questions why those held in bondage have to wait until white people get around to allowing them the freedom due all Americans by the Constitution.
But there is a third stool on stage, appropriately placed in between the two protagonists. Cedric Hameed serves as an on-stage narrator of the play. But he is more than a narrator. Hameed places the readings of Lincoln and Douglass in the greater context while providing a historical flow for the audience to follow. Nowhere is this more evident than in one short section in which Hameed calls out a year and each actor responds. “1831” he calls. Lincoln responds, “store clerk;” Douglass, “slave.” “1833.” Lincoln proudly, “postmaster;” Douglass disgustingly, “slave.” “1834.” Lincoln, again proudly, “elected to Illinois state legislature;” Douglass, more animated, “slave.” While both largely self-educated, their circumstances were vastly different. The audience perhaps starts to see how this applies still today. A skilled poet, Hameed also offers some verse of his own creation, connecting not only Lincoln and Douglass but their time with our time.
Following the performance, the actors and playwright took questions from the audience, further illuminating the similarities and contrasts between Lincoln and Douglass. As the title suggests, while coming at slavery from different perspectives and different time scales for its extinction, the two men found a common bond and respect for each other’s role in the drama.
All three men on the stage were wonderful in their performances. Jeffrey Atherton and Joel PE King portrayed their characters with the appropriate moods and passions. While I was impressed with all three men, Atherton’s was somewhat bittersweet. He stepped into the role on extremely short notice and played it heroically. But I couldn’t help but think of who he was replacing.
The play has been in the works for several years, and Lincoln portrayer Michael Krebs was intimately involved in its creation. Michael died suddenly on January 29th. Through my own Lincoln connections, I actually found out before the Foundation and most others had heard the sad news. Michael had portrayed Lincoln for the Lincoln Group of DC in 2011 and 2015 for our reenactments of Lincoln’s first and second inaugurations. He was considered one of the best Lincoln actors in the country, often touring with the acclaimed Deb Miller as Mrs. Lincoln. Karen Needles, president of the Lincoln Group of DC during the time of the reenactments, offered her heartfelt memories of Michael in a recent post on the Lincolnian.org website. He will be missed.
[Photo from the program. Note that the actor playing Lincoln in the photo is the late Michael Krebs.]
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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.