2016 Capital Fringe Preview #13: ‘Confederates’ by James F. Bruns

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Part of the 11th Annual Capital Fringe Festival July 7 – 31, 2016

Was there one day the South could have won the War?

Looking back through the fog of history, Civil War “buffs” endlessly debate this idea. Some point to the events at Gettysburg which might have tilted that battle in the Confederacy favor. But by July 1863, the South was already drained by the blockade and the surrender of Vicksburg soon cut the nation in half. No, probably two years earlier in the days just after the Union disaster at Bull Run, was the best chance for Southern Independence. And there was one General at that moment, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson who realized this fact at the time.

The setting for the play Confederates is inside the Virginia farmhouse being used as the headquarters of General Jackson, the day after the Battle of Bull Run. As the roads across Fairfax and Arlington Counties are open, some thirty thousand Confederate troops are only a day’s march away from the unfinished Capitol Dome. In the coming months and years after the First Manassas Campaign, Southerners would seethe at their leaders for blowing this golden opportunity to take out the Federal City and quickly end the war.

What would have happened if Washington D.C. fell under siege that summer of 1861, and the Southern States were allowed to secede? Alas, that is another story, another play. But the Southern armies in the field did surrender. The Constitution was rewritten, the 13th Amendment was passed. Still today a war goes on, with the Confederates fighting and mostly losing a rear guard action against the relentless Union of “Cultural Marxists.” These fierce skirmishes take place on web sites, in Letters to the Editor and in the town squares all over Dixie beside the lonely, pigeon splattered, confederate soldier’s statue.

About the Playwright

Playwright James F. Bruns.
Playwright James F. Bruns.

James F. Bruns is a playwright living in Falls Church. This is his second Capital Fringe show after AMERICAN LIT last summer. This past November his play FATHERLAND premiered at the Charm City Fringe Festival in Baltimore. He has had five One Act productions with Open Stage DC. His latest production was LOOK BACK ON US at the New Works Showcase in Takoma Park, MD.

About the Director

Director Rolando Gomez.
Director Rolando Branford Gomez.

Roland Branford Gomez returns once again to the Capital Fringe Festival. Usually you’ll find Roland at the Little Theatre of Alexandria, as incidentally he’s directing just in time for this Halloween, the fast paced farce, A Party to Murder running from October 22nd  to November 12th. Directed by Roland Branford Gomez, written by James F. Bruns with Richard Fiske, James Day, Cliff Rooks and Meghan Landon.

Meet the Actors     

  Richard Fiske (“STONEWALL” JACKSON)

Richard Fiske.
Richard Fiske.

Richard Fiske stumbled into acting as a form of adult day care a while back, and has been inflicting performances on audiences in various DC area theaters for the last four or five years, most recently as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird at the Little Theatre of Alexandria.

Meghan Landon (LUCRETIA)

Meghan Landon.
Meghan Landon.

Meghan Landon is a Washington Area Theatre Community Honors nominee for her work in Aldersgate Church Community Theatre’s The Miracle Worker. She is attending Kean University in New Jersey in the fall for her BFA in Theatre Performance.

Cliff Rooks (SANDIE)

Cliff Rooks.
Cliff Rooks.

Cliff Rooks fell in love with acting from a very young age. He has recently graduated from acting, directing and writing conservatory program where he wrote, performed and directed a one person show loosely based on the character of Sweeney Todd.

James V. Day (BENJAMIN)

James V. Day.
James V. Day.

Jim Day is a veteran Northern Virginia actor living in Springfield.  He plays the Confederate Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin.

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       Upstairs Theatre at Logan Fringe Arts Space

1358 Florida Avenue NE Washington, DC  

PERFORMANCES:

            Saturday, July 9th at 5:30 PM

Tuesday, July 12th at 6:30 PM

Thursday, July 14th at 7:00 PM

Friday, July 22nd at 8:15 PM

Sunday, July 24th at 2:00 PM theatre_ticket-150x150
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE, or call (866) 811-4111.

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