Member's Lincoln Play this weekend and next in Greenbelt

National Press Club member Anthony Gallo's play, "The Springfield Boys” will be presented by the Greenbelt Arts Center over the next two weekends. The production marks the first time in theatrical history that a non-Caucasian actor will perform the role of Abraham Lincoln.

This two-act dramedy traces from 1837 to 1891 (26 years after the Lincoln assassination) the historically significant relationship among Abraham Lincoln, his very closest friend Joshua Fry Speed, and Lincoln's law partner William H. (Billy) Herndon. Both Speed and Herndon played important roles in the legacy of the 16th president. Oh yes, the Springfield girls also have their say. And the boys even help one another on their roads to marriage. How did the pro-slavery Speed, who shared a bed with Lincoln for four years, help preserve the Union? How did he deal with Lincoln’s “blue periods?” Why did Lincoln choose this man as his only complete friend ever? Where is the Bible Mr. Speed’s mother gave young Mr. Lincoln (during one of his blue periods) located today? No one showed greater political allegiance to Lincoln than Billy, who wrote one of only two eyewitness biographies of the tragic president. Lincoln assistants John Hay and John Nicolay’s 10-volume biography is frequently dismissed as too hagiographic, that is an idolizing story. But Billy’s innumerable eye-popping but questionable assertions about Lincoln and his family have influenced Lincoln biographers from Carl Sandburg and Ida Tarbell to David Herbert Donald. But was Lincoln really a free thinking agnostic? Was he illegitimate? Other claims were even more shocking. Did Herndon forever malign Mary Lincoln because of their mutual hatred (He: “She dances like a serpent;” She: “He’s an uncouth drunkard”)?

Performances will be held in the historic Greenbelt Arts Center July 10-12 and July 17-19. For more information, contact Gallo at [email protected]. Or http://www.aegallo.com/cu2.html and http://www.greenbeltartscenter.org/Events.asp