Necessary Sacrifices at Ford's Theatre

Necessary Sacrifices

Ford's Theatre
511 Tenth Street, N.W. Washington

In his fourth commission for Ford’s Theatre, playwright Richard Hellesen explores the two documented encounters between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln during a period of national crisis. As Lincoln searches for a way to end slavery in the summers of 1863 and 1864, Douglass’s rhetoric and conviction challenges the president to envision a post-emancipation world. Together, the men imagine not only a unified nation but a society that brings truth to the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal.” Hellesen’s previous works for Ford’s Theatre include “One Destiny,” “Investigation: Detective McDevitt” and “The Road from Appomattox,” three gripping and insightful explorations of critical moments in Civil War history. The world premiere of this work will coincide with the opening of the Center for Education and Leadership, which will include new galleries exploring the immediate aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination and the evolution of his legacy.

Thru - Feb 18, 2012

Show Type: Drama

Running Time: 2 hrs, 15 minutes with 1 intermission

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Necessary Sacrifices Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Not Recommended

"...Obviously, many of these issues resonate — and aggravate — in our own political landscape. But the topical echoes aren’t quite enough to banish the play’s air of concertedly edifying time-traveling. At one point during their acquaintanceship, in a gesture that seems aimed at both charming and needling his visitor, Lincoln tosses his walking stick to Douglass. For an instant, the stick hangs suspended in the air, an emblem of possibility: “Necessary Sacrifices” as a whole never attains comparable liftoff."

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- Celia Wren

DCist - Not Recommended

"...But Necessary Sacrifices is just too dry, too classroom-like, that it’s hard to endorse it for anyone outside a school group. It’s an important message, but it’s all lectures. And Abe, seriously, tone it down a notch."

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- Benjamin R. Freed

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...Necessary Sacrifices, the historical drama receiving its world premiere at Ford's Theatre in Washington, is less theatrical than educational in nature, but it benefits from the impassioned performances of David Selby as Abraham Lincoln and Craig Wallace as Frederick Douglass."

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- Susan Berlin

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...Craig Wallace, as Douglass, is not amused. It’s unclear whether coming to the role sooner would have made him a better sparring partner for Selby. (Ford’s announced just a week before opening that Wallace would replace an ailing David Emerson Toney.) At least the actor playing Lincoln has a desk full of props to play with. All Wallace does is stand around looking self-important while wearing an uncomfortable-looking amount of facial hair. In short, he portrays Douglass as stoic stick-in-the-mud. That may be historically informed, but it doesn’t allow for much of a character arc, or even pathos."

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- Rebecca J. Ritzel

Washingtonian - Recommended

"...In this production, David Selby as Lincoln and Craig Wallace as Douglass make a convincing, contrasting duo in countenance, demeanor, and voice. The spirited conversations in which they engage evoke a fly-on-the-wall quality, giving the audience the sense of truly eavesdropping on history as it’s being made. This is Selby’s second outing as Lincoln at Ford’s. He played the president almost exactly three years ago in James Still’s The Heavens Are Hung in Black, commissioned by Ford’s to mark the reopening of the newly refurbished landmark theater. The lanky actor seems effortlessly to channel the great man in an inspired mix of folksiness—the high-pitched twang noted by those who actually heard Lincoln speak is jarring at first, then pleasurably realistic—warmth, melancholy, and political savvy."

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- Jane Horwitz

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"... A breath-taking step back in history comes to audiences as Ford’s Theatre presents Necessary Sacrifices. Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson – this vibrant portrait of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass brings history to life as the difficult times of the civil war and all it presents comes to light through discourse of this to important figures. Each moment takes audience members on a journey to a time that is stillpolitically poignant as we are reminded that there is nothing so important as to stand up for what you believein, remembering that there will always be struggles and sacrifices to maintain that belief."

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- Amanda Gunther

DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended

Nothing truly prepares one for the remarkable resemblance of the actors David Selby and Craig Wallace to the characters they portray, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass in the world premiere Necessary Sacrifices just opened at Ford’s Theatre. Selby not only takes on the gait, the hunched shoulders and the reported pitched voice of the slain President, but he delivers stories and punch lines with the irrepressible humor and grace attributed to Lincoln by scholars over the years.

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- Debbie Jackson

Necessary Sacrifices at Ford's Theatre