President Lincoln and Sawyers at East Lynne

East Lynne Theater Company’s “President Lincoln and the Sawyers of Cape May” was selected as one of 28 events in the state to be part of New Jersey Council for the Humanities’ (NJCH) “Lincoln’s Legacy” series, created to honor the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and National Arts and Humanities Month.
As president during perhaps our nation’s most trying time, 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 Oct. 11 at 8 p.m., Sims’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.”
Sims 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.”
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,” held at the First Presbyterian Church. To make a reservation or for information, call 609-884-5898 or go online to www.eastlynnetheater.org.
Meanwhile, the rib-tickling Kaufman comedy, “The Butter and Egg Man” continues its regular Wednesday through Saturday schedule through Oct. 24.