2/10/2025 Preview: SHILOH RULES Act 1 Theater / Arcadia Theater Co
MASKED PRETENSE
(Preview Disclaimer: This is an analysis of the script of Shiloh Rules (*) by Doris Baizley, intended as a promotional “Preview.” Unfortunately, I will not be able to actual see the Act 1/ Arcadia production to offer remarks on how well they bring Ms. Baizley’s characters and words to life.)
In the introduction to his 1962 novel Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut ponders his moral, saying this is his only novel (to that point) that has a clear moral: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” I couldn’t help but think of this while reading Doris Beasley’s (marvelous) script for Shiloh Rules, a play about Civil War re-enactors, who take to heart their various roles.
Six women are at war in the Shiloh National Park, which memorializes the site of one of the bloodiest Civil War conflicts, on the anniversary of that battle. Well five are – the sixth is an African-American Park Ranger who hates this annual intrusion into the park, and its glorification of the “Southern Cause.” There are two “trainees” who have not (yet) disappeared into their characters, and their mentors, who, for all intents and purposes, have. And then there is Widow Beckwith, an agelessly elderly woman who gives every indication of actually having been around for the 1862 battle of Shiloh.
Cecelia is “playing” a Southern refugee who must remind her trainee, LucyGale, that Southern women could not actually read. Meanwhile, Clara is a Yankee nurse with her trainee Meg in tow. Meg is shocked at how loud the (fake?) artillery is and struggles to come to terms with Civil War era first aid, even as Cecelia reminds her that her conveyance is a “wagon,” not a “Subaru.” ALL are obsessed with “staying in character”
even though the event is hours away from starting, and they are (in fact) trespassing in the park, much to Ranger Wilson’s aggravation.
As the event gets rolling, a lightning storm adds to the chaos, thunder and “artillery” battling to inflict shock and awe upon the entire cast. Which, of course, is nothing compared to the true fireworks, as the characters give vent to their unconscious biases that motivated their choice of “sides” in the re-enactment. Which, of course, is the point.
I have always been curious of the appeal of Civil War re-enactors. That part of history was surely an outgrowth of the worst of American character and the worst hellscape ever created on American soil. Why is this worth celebrating? And, as the characters in Shiloh Rules express their biases more honestly, I can’t help thinking that Lincoln’s policy of “Malice towards none, Charity towards all” was the biggest mistake of his leadership, stripping the very real treason of the south of any accountability, making possible the excesses of Jim Crow and the unbearable persistence of racism, even today, especially today, as our government scapegoats “D.E.I.” for everything caused by their own ill-conceived choices and actions. (**)
And that, my friends, is why this play resonates and appeals. According to their advance P.R., ACT 1 / Arcadia has chosen to present this as an interactive experience (in the black box space of the Alpharetta Arts Center). I’m especially curious as to how that choice manifests – and it truly makes me regret my inability to attend. My guess is it encourages the audience to “take sides” or to even “switch sides” as the plot evolves. I’m also curious as to the effect the ending, with all the dead of Shiloh fully acknowledged (and honored) as the characters change to “ Modern Dress: jeans and T-Shirts of their favorite bands,” a juxtaposition that (surely) underscores the themes of the piece.
This is a wonderful script, funny and moving, exciting and profound, and I sincerely hope the cast and crew bring it to life in a way that expands the compelling effect the script gave me on both first and second readings.
I started this preview with a literary reference to Vonnegut’s Mother Night. That novel was about an American WWII American spy pretending to be a Nazi propagandist in Europe, whose actions made him a true pro-Nazi propagandist, just as these reenactors eventually reveal their unspoken (even unconscious) bigotries. I will end it with another literary reference, a poem by Herman Melville, “Shiloh: A Requiem (April 1862)”, a poem that is a mirror image of Shiloh Rules, a poem that ends with a similar image of serenity and calm: “All is hushed at Shiloh.” ( *** ) “Ranger Wilson: They’re gone. [The park] is ours again.”
For the record, here is the production team. I wish them very best for their final performances (and I apologize for not getting this published before their opening:
CAST
Kitt Marsh as Cecelia Pettison
Jamie Thomas as LucyGale Scruggs
Andrea Barra as Clara Abbott
Samantha Kacho as Meg Barton
Kelly Vandever as Widow Beckwith
Tia Nickole as Ranger Wilson
CREW
Director (and Sound and Props Design): Hailee Zuniga
Stage Manager: Spencer Carr
Costume Design: Abi Apter
Lighting Design: Murray Mann
Set Design: Randy Bampfield
-- Brad Rudy (BKRudy@aol.com #ShilohRules #ACT1Theater #ArcadiaTheaterInc #AlpharettaArtsCenter)
( * ) First Workshop Production: New Century Theater, Northampton MA. 2001. World Premiere: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery AL. 2002. NYC: Flying Fig Theater, 2006.
( ** ) I really hate bringing current politics into this, but am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy of elevating “Merit-Based Hiring” from an administration that fills jobs with incompetents whose only qualification is loyalty or family relation?
( *** ) Of course I’ll share the entire poem:
Shiloh: A Requiem (April, 1862)
By Herman Melville
Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
The swallows fly low
Over the field in clouded days,
The forest-field of Shiloh—
Over the field where April rain
Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain
Through the pause of night
That followed the Sunday fight
Around the church of Shiloh—
The church so lone, the log-built one,
That echoed to many a parting groan
And natural prayer
Of dying foemen mingled there—
Foemen at morn, but friends at eve—
Fame or country least their care:
(What like a bullet can undeceive!)
But now they lie low,
While over them the swallows skim,
And all is hushed at Shiloh.