Civil War setting for 'John Brown's Body'

The Pulitzer-prize winning poem, "John Brown's Body" will be presented twice over Labor Day weekend during Virginia City's Civil War Days. The production plays 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday at Silverland Hotel theater, 100 North E Street in Virginia City.

Perhaps more than any other single event of the Civil War, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, ignited passions that lead to bloodshed. John Brown's goal, to arm the slaves to take up a revolt against plantation owners, created such fear in Southerners that all talk of compromise ended.

"John Brown's Body," the epic poem by Stephen Vincent Benet, comes to life in this theatrical presentation. A question-and-answer session with the cast follows the performance.

"John Brown's Body" is an ambitious re-telling of the American Civil War that entertains the question as to whether John Brown, the man who tried to start the Civil War about a year and a half before it actually erupted, was a hero of black freedom or a bloodthirsty terrorist.

In his poem, Benet introduces fictional characters from the North and South and places them in this turbulent time period alongside real-life characters like President Lincoln and John Brown himself. Published in 1928, over 100,000 copies of John Brown's Body were sold within a few months of its release. The following year it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

The Virginia City production of "John Brown's Body" features actors Andy and Anita Harmon and Jeanette Knight. The trio performed the same production last year to rave reviews. This presentation is suitable for older children through adult. Tickets cost $15 and include one drink. For reservations, call the Silverland Hotel at 775-847-4484.

For more information about "John Brown's Body" or Virginia City's Labor Day weekend festivities, go to www.visitvirginiacitynv.com.