the Royal Court Theatre in London by Peter Gill in 1968 and revived at the National Theatre in London in 2015.[1]


In Splendid Error
 
Douglass argued against John Brown's plan to attack the arsenal at Harpers Ferry by Jacob Lawrence
Written byWilliam B. Branch
Date premiered1954
Place premieredGreenwich Mews Theater, Off-Broadway, New York City
Original languageEnglish


In Splendid Error

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In Splendid Error was written by William B. Branch it was produced off-Broadway in 1954[2] and revived again in 1978.[3] by the New Federal Theatre[4]

The play dramatizes the discussions that Frederick Douglass and John Brown had as Brown tried to persuade Douglass to join him at Harpers Ferry.[5] It also dramatizes the attitudes of the North before the Civil ward and the Raid on Harpers Ferry which

Characters

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Frederick Douglass ambrotype (1856)
 
John Brown portrait, 1859

CHARACTERS:

Reverend Loguen – A Black man, “slight of frame and advanced in years”.

Joshua – a young Black man who recently escaped enslavement with three others.

  • Anna Douglass – A 40 year old black woman the matriarch of the Douglass home.
  • Lewis Douglass – Anna and Fredrick’s 17 year old son, tall.
  • George Chatham – A white man business man “just past middle age”, and an abolitionist.
  • Theodore Tilton – A white “small, wiry” man in his mid-40’s A newspaper publisher and editor.
  • Frederick Douglass – 42, “a tall, broad, compelling figure of a man” with a beard.
  • John Brown – A lean sinewy man of over 50 with flowing hair and a ragged beard.
  • Annie Douglass – the 6-year-old daughter of Anna and Fredrick.
  • Sheilds Green – A strong, stockily built Black man, formally enslaved.
  • Colonel Hugh Forbes– A tall white man in his 30’s with a harried, hungry look in his eye.
  • Frank Sanborn – A white abolitionist from Boston.

Plot Summery

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References

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  1. ^ Billington, Michael (28 October 2015). "Husbands and Sons review – Anne-Marie Duff shines through violation of DH Lawrence". theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. ^ Burgess, Michael. "LibGuides: John Brown: In Splendid Error". researchguides.plattsburgh.edu.
  3. ^ Shepard, Richard F. (20 December 1978). "Stage: 'In Splendid Error,' on Abolition". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "In Splendid Error (A Black Retrospective 2)". New Federal Theatre.
  5. ^ Douglass, Frederick (1882). Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, written by himself. Hartford, Connecticut: Park Publishing Co.


Mx942/sandbox
AddressNew York City, New York
United States
TypeOff-Broadway