The Civil War Chronicles:
Go Between Gettysburg
Commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, Linda Mussmann creates a post-modern souvenir of the Civil War. As the “Go-Between”, Claudia Bruce interprets “then” and “now.” She narrates the events as well as becoming historical/folk characters.
November 1988
Theatre of the Riverside Church, New York, NY
written, designed, and directed by LINDA MUSSMANN
in collaboration with CLAUDIA BRUCE
music composed and orchestrated by SEMIH FIRINCIOĞLU
performed by KENNETH BARNES-FRENCH, CLAUDIA BRUCE, JAMES HOWLEY, SHAWN POWERS, PHILIP SHEPARD
orchestra: BEVERLY AU (cello), SEMIH FIRINCIOĞLU (piano), MICHAEL GOLDRING (bass), AMY LASKEY (flute), NANCIE LEDERER (violin), JACALYN STANGER (viola), SUSAN WAHLING (clarinet)
set designs by LINDA MUSSMAN in collaboration with PHILIP SHEPARD
costumes by MIGNON LOU
gowns by MARY ARTA BENCK
stage manager and lighting technician - JOYCE BAKER
Press Release, 1988:
“A semi-circular set of grids and screens, with vivid contrasts of light and shadow, create a cyclorama in which the Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Address are transformed from fact into fiction, and at times, from drama into black comedy. In Go Between Gettysburg, this fusion of formal elements with Time & Space Limited’s eclectic cultural blend — Mussmann is a Mid-Westerner, Bruce a Southernor, Firincioğlu a Turk — creates an idiosyncratic but very American portrait of the War Between the States.”
F.E. Siegel, New York City Tribune:
“Mussmann delights in the radical undercurrents that have fueled many popular American rebellions. She challenges conventional wisdom and mocks the Establishment, even as she dutifully records is legacies. Go Between Gettysburg is a case in point.
In fact, the famous Gettysburg Address took only two minutes. Not surprisingly, the photographer missed the shot (picture-taking was a lengthy process) and he expressed his dismay to the President. Lincoln finished speaking even before he got the lens cap off!
The speech is stirring — but the story behind the speech is equally evocative. Go Between Gettysburg explores the difficulty of recording history — “I missed the shot!” — and what happens when myth supplants reality. Mussmann uses a bare stage, save a host of musicians against the back wall, to illustrate her point. Actors walk on and off center stage, retelling the tale of the Gettysburg Address. They act out the scenario, rather than narrate it.”
Excerpt from review by Pat Schneider:
“Throughout the performance, the actors/characters were in a structure that revealed the memory and immediacy of a famous historical event. Structured events are amplified through repetition: the photographer again and again just missing the shot of Lincoln; a repetitive waltz step by Mary Todd Lincoln (who imagines she is Queen Victoria) which suspends her in a corseted time frame of the “socially gracious” past, while she speaks/sings an aria of a timeless flight designs to move her through the constricting past towards a glorious future; Lewis Payne, continually opening and closing a folding chair, revealing a young man misplaced and unsettled in the war.”
“Ironically, the search for truth sends them veering sharply towards abstraction. Fact and fantasy blend, the setting is a mixture of melodrama and historic record, the audience is unsure of what is real and what is illusion: the Fourth Wall is obliterated.” -F.E. Siegel
