BWW Review: PBS's MERCY STREET is Chilling, Captivating Look at Civil War Women
by Matt Tamanini
- Jan 18, 2016
With the sixth and final season of beloved British import DOWNTON ABBEY quickly coming to an end, PBS is hoping to hold onto the fans of the early 20th Century soap with new historical drama MERCY STREET. The Civil War hospital series debuted Sunday night after the third installment of DOWNTON's nine-episode season, but beyond their proximity on the network's schedule, the two period dramas have little in common; but that's not a bad thing for either show. Where DOWNTON is mostly a light-hearted look at a wealthy English family and the people who serve them, which only occasionally delves into significantly dramatic fare, MERCY STREET is a bone-chillingly authentic look at one of the most traumatic times in American history that has only momentary flits of humor.
BWW Interview: Tony-winner Donna Murphy Returns to Familiar Era in PBS's MERCY STREET
by Matt Tamanini
- Jan 17, 2016
The 1860s are a familiar period for Donna Murphy. In addition to winning Tonys for playing Fosca in the original Broadway production of PASSION and Anna in the 1996 revival of THE KING AND I, the actress played Mary Todd Lincoln in the television movie, THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT. All three projects were set between 1862 and 1867. And, while she jokes that the 1998 film was the last time that she had worn a corset, when she read the pilot episode of PBS's Civil War medical drama MERCY STREET, premiering tonight at 10:00pm ET, she knew that she wanted to be involved.
