East Lynne Theater Company Presents PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND THE SAWYERS OF CAPE MAY

East Lynne Theater Company's "President Lincoln and the Sawyers of Cape May" was selected as one of twenty-eight events in the state to be part of New Jersey Council for the Humanities' (NJCH) "Lincoln's Legacy" series, created to honor the two hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and National Arts and Humanities Month. As president during one of our nation's most trying times, Abraham Lincoln has had a lasting impact upon the history, culture, and political development of the United States.

On July 6, 1863, it was only by the bad luck-of-the-draw that Captain Henry Sawyer, from Cape May, and another captain were sentenced to death at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. The Union and Confederate governments had recently decided that there would be no more prisoner exchanges, but when a captive is the son of General Robert E. Lee, and President Lincoln wants to save Captain Sawyer's life, then there is room for negotiations.

Last winter, ELTC's Artistic Director, Gayle Stahlhuth, wrote a script, "Henry Sawyer and the Civil War," that was performed by students at West Cape May Elementary School. Tom Sims, Executive Director of the Cape May Film Festival, made a documentary of the event, and became so interested in the topic, that he's pursuing funding to produce a documentary based on this play, using professional actors, and involving Civil War scholars.

On Sunday, Oct. 11 at 8:00p.m., Sim's documentary about rehearsing and performing the play for the school will be shown along with another documentary filmed at Historic Cold Spring Village, called "Lincoln and Sawyer." Sim's will discuss how these two documentaries will be part of a larger project.

The evening includes a staged reading of "Henry Sawyer and the Civil War" with
Morgan Nichols, Daisy Ouzts, and John Cameron Weber, who are all currently in ELTC's "The Butter and Egg Man," along with Jim McMillan, who was in "The People of Cape May vs. Johan van Buren," and Phil Pizzi, who has appeared in several ELTC productions including the Sherlock Holmes adventures. Also in the reading are Lee O'Connor, who portrays Holmes in ELTC's productions and Gayle Stahlhuth, who also directs.

There will also be a presentation by James Stephens, Lead Interpreter at Historic Cold Spring Village and a Civil War-era historian, about Cape May hero Captain Henry Sawyer and President Lincoln, with a Q&A to follow.

Admission is free to "Abraham Lincoln and the Sawyers of Cape May," and the location is The First Presbyterian Church where ELTC is in residence. To make a reservation or for information, call 884-5898 or go online to www.eastlynnetheater.org.

This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any view, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this program, do not necessarily represent those of the NEH or the NJCH.
Meanwhile, the rib-tickling Kaufman comedy, "The Butter and Egg Man" continues its regular Wednesday through Saturday schedule through Oct. 24.