Lady Patriot

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Ted Lange’s Lady Patriot reunites the author/director with his cast mates from The Love Boat series, Jill Whelan and Fred Grandy. Leaving that aside as it has little to do with his new historical play, the third in Lange’s American history trilogy, Lady Patriot is based on true events that took place in the Jefferson Davis White House and the neighboring house, the Elizabeth Van Lew Mansion, in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, 1861 – 1865. While the play purports to tell the story of the leak in the Davis cabinet and the successful Union spying ring in the Confederacy in Richmond, it lacks urgency and tension even at the end when the Confederacy is about to come to an end. Told in 18 short scenes, the play could use a good deal of pruning of its two and a half hour running time.

The play is mostly based on real characters, some of whom are unsung heroines seen as patriots: Elizabeth Van Lew who conducted the Union spy ring in the Confederacy from her home in Richmond, Varina Davis, bigoted First Lady of the Confederacy as the second wife of Jefferson Davis, and Mary Bowser, a former slave to the Van Lew family working as a spy in the home of the Davises. While the author states that he has done a great deal of research, a search of the Internet indicates there is no proof that Bowser ever worked for the Davises; in fact, the myth that she once went into their home claiming to seek lost laundry is considered apocryphal. In addition, a little digging claims that Varina Davis was unliked by her Confederate neighbors as she was so liberal and considered African American slaves people, not property, unlike most Southern ladies during the Civil War, rather than the biased woman she is shown to be here.

The play takes place in three Richmond locales, cleverly designed by Paul Jonathan Davis, to sit side by side on the Theatre Row stage: Van Lew’s Herb Pantry, the Jefferson Davis White House State Room and Davis’ White House office. Varina Davis is having trouble dealing with the pregnancy of her latest child and has been unable to get her servants to Richmond from the family’s Mississippi plantation. Her friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Van Lew, offers to lend her Mary Bowser, her servant who is a trained midwife. Unknown to Varina, Mary can both read and write (unusual for African American slaves before the Civil War) and has been placed in the Davis home in order to spy on them. Visiting Elizabeth regularly to deliver baked goods, Mary is able to bring word of Jefferson Davis’ cabinet as well as documents she has read on his desk. Eventually, Davis and his wife think that the leak is from someone in the cabinet, but they argue as to whether it is Jewish Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin or a discontented appointee.

While the historical speech (using the now unacceptable N-word) and details are convincing, the play develops no tension, proceeding like a drawing room drama. It is not even revealed until the first scene of the second act (Scene 11) that Elizabeth is running a spy ring or that Mary is her best source and the first mention of the leak in the David Cabinet is not until the second scene of the second act. As a result the play’s direction by Lange feels too leisurely and languid. To some extent the entire first act is not necessary except for setting up the situation, revealing how slaves were treated in the South (they were not allowed to read or write, they could be separated from their families who were sold off, beatings were to be expected for infringements, etc.) and how Southerners lived in the 1860s.

The cast is uniformly excellent though they are somewhat hampered by the fact that we learn very little about each. As spymaster Elizabeth Van Lew, Whalen is sly, cunning and articulate. As the First Lady of the Confederacy, Josie DiVincenzo has all the social graces though her bigotry toward both African Americans and Jews is foremost in her behavior. As undercover agent Mary Bowser, Chrystee Pharris is fine at playing a double life, that of an uneducated slave as well as a smart, educated independent woman. As Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, Gordon Goodman expresses his weariness with the war and his pique at being overwhelmed with the problems caused by his associates both in the cabinet and in the army.

Count Stovall makes a strong impression as the canny Davis slave, Old Robert, though all we learn about him is that his wife and four children were sold off by the Davis family and he has always wanted to learn how to read and write. Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin is played by Derek Emerson Powell as an ingratiating and wise counselor, the one who brings to Davis a plan that they should free Southern slaves in order to help fight in the war, an idea Davis roundly rejects. He also handles Varina’s anti-Semitism very cleverly reminding her that Jesus started out as a Jew and that the Romans were responsible for his crucifixion. A member of the staff of the New York Tribune, Grandy puts in brief appearances as the Northern journalist Slydell who carries information North for Elizabeth but we learn nothing about him.

The costumes by Alex Rockey are period perfect, redolent of their Civil War Era. Will Mahood’s sound design includes historical period songs such as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “America the Beautiful” as well as evidence that the war is approaching Richmond. Paul Jonathan Davis’ lighting keeps our attention on the correct part of his three sets. While Ted Lange’s play handles the historical aspects of his story well, the overly long running time and the lack of tension and urgency in what is basically intended as a thriller undermines the dramatic possibilities inherent in the plot.

Lady Patriot (through September 20, 2025)

Theatre Row, 410 W. 42^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.TheatreRow.org

Running time: two hours and 35 minutes including one intermission