BWW Review: BEN BUTLER: Gloucester General's Pivotal Role in the Civil War
by Nancy Grossman
- Aug 7, 2019
Gloucester Stage Company presents the Boston area premiere of Richard Strand's BEN BUTLER, a Union army general who was a settler of Gloucester's Bayview neighborhood, a presidential candidate, and the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts. Those achievements came after he retired from the military, where he forged a reputation as a champion of the causes of labor, abolition of slavery, and naturalized citizens. In the play, set in the middle of the Civil War in 1861, Butler faces a moral dilemma, forced to choose between adhering strictly to the law or daring to make a bold move that holds the promise of changing history.
BWW Review: Northlight's BUTLER a peculiar slice of American history
by Teresa Budasi
- Mar 22, 2016
If Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler hadn't been a lawyer, he might have tried his hand at psychotherapy, particularly talk therapy. His hyper-focus on word choice and the meaning behind said choices is the first impression we get of this Civil War leader in BUTLER, now playing through April 17 at Northlight Theatre in Skokie.
