TRUTH BE TOLD: Civil War Women of
Loudoun County, Virginia
Drama
What was on the mind of a plantation mistress, a Confederate housewife, a field nurse or a Confederate spy? How does a Loudoun slave woman answer a Union soldier when asked what life was like for her and her children? Why would a young Quaker woman risk her life to publish an underground newspaper for Union soldiers? Was love possible in the midst of war? And what did Union and Confederate soldiers think of the women left behind?
TRUTH BE TOLD share a group of monologues taken directly from or based on Loudoun County, Virginia women's actual diaries and letters and other documents. They held strikingly modern perspectives and feelings on the subject of the war all around them. If wished, live or taped Civil War music can be used to enhance each moment of the play.
TRUTH BE TOLD share a group of monologues taken directly from or based on Loudoun County, Virginia women's actual diaries and letters and other documents. They held strikingly modern perspectives and feelings on the subject of the war all around them. If wished, live or taped Civil War music can be used to enhance each moment of the play.
The first version of this One Act Play was written by McMath to celebrate the Loudoun Museum's 25th Anniversary and to support the Virginia Civil War high school curricula. It was filmed as a documentary called "Southern Courage" and is posted on YouTube. The documentary is longer and structured differently, but it does contain the monologues contained in the play (CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE YOUTUBE DOCUMENTARY - Warning: contains graphic scenes of blood).
Time Period: During the Civil War and after the peace is signed
Play's Set: Black Box or as desired
Cast: (15 women, 3 men)
Narrator (Quaker Farmer)
Lida Dutton (Quaker Journalist)
Virginia Miller (describes battle in field next to home)
Field Nurse (describes conditions at a Confederate field hospital)
Confederate Soldier (Talks about confederate women in a letter home)
Elizabeth Carter of Oatlands Plantation (largest slave owner in Loudoun Co. VIrginia)
Rachel Means (the Quaker who steals a horse)
Mary E. Lack (Falls in love with a soldier)
Eliza Hammerly (Confederate housewife who speaks to former neighbor who'd become a Union soldier)
Slave Woman (asked by a Union soldier asks her what life is like a slave)
Lizzie Dutton (Quaker who explains life for them during the war)
Kate Powell Carter (Elizabeth Carter’s daughter whose husband is a soldier)
Mrs. Minor (Confederate spy)
Henrietta Ankers (Confederate whose property was the scene of a cavalry skirmish)
Sarah Steer (Quaker who was Virginia’s first teacher of the freedman’s children)
Union General Phil Sheridan (Orders the Burning Raid of Loudoun County, Virginia)
Rosanna Thompson (Confederate Housewife who complains about Burning Raid)
Carrie Taylor (Quaker housewife explains their view of the Union Burning Raid)
Music: 19th century sheet music is played behind certain scenes.
Running Time: 45 minutes.
For PERFORMANCE RIGHTS, contact Meredith Bean McMath via Run Rabbit Run Productions at [email protected] or by calling McMath at 571-209-7386.
Time Period: During the Civil War and after the peace is signed
Play's Set: Black Box or as desired
Cast: (15 women, 3 men)
Narrator (Quaker Farmer)
Lida Dutton (Quaker Journalist)
Virginia Miller (describes battle in field next to home)
Field Nurse (describes conditions at a Confederate field hospital)
Confederate Soldier (Talks about confederate women in a letter home)
Elizabeth Carter of Oatlands Plantation (largest slave owner in Loudoun Co. VIrginia)
Rachel Means (the Quaker who steals a horse)
Mary E. Lack (Falls in love with a soldier)
Eliza Hammerly (Confederate housewife who speaks to former neighbor who'd become a Union soldier)
Slave Woman (asked by a Union soldier asks her what life is like a slave)
Lizzie Dutton (Quaker who explains life for them during the war)
Kate Powell Carter (Elizabeth Carter’s daughter whose husband is a soldier)
Mrs. Minor (Confederate spy)
Henrietta Ankers (Confederate whose property was the scene of a cavalry skirmish)
Sarah Steer (Quaker who was Virginia’s first teacher of the freedman’s children)
Union General Phil Sheridan (Orders the Burning Raid of Loudoun County, Virginia)
Rosanna Thompson (Confederate Housewife who complains about Burning Raid)
Carrie Taylor (Quaker housewife explains their view of the Union Burning Raid)
Music: 19th century sheet music is played behind certain scenes.
Running Time: 45 minutes.
For PERFORMANCE RIGHTS, contact Meredith Bean McMath via Run Rabbit Run Productions at [email protected] or by calling McMath at 571-209-7386.