'Shiloh Rules' proves the past is still here

My review of "Shiloh Rules," which opened last Friday night at the Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theater at Barton College as part of the Theater of the American South:

“The past is not dead,” William Faulkner famously said. “In fact, it’s not even past.” Doris Baizley’s “Shiloh Rules,” the second installment of the 2011 Theater of the American South, proves Faulkner’s point: The past is always with us.

How much more with us could the past be than among a group of Civil War re-enactors on the Shiloh Battlefield National Park? “Shiloh Rules,” which opened Friday night, brings together six women — two Union re-enactors, two Confederate re-enactors, a Park Service ranger and a merchant of Civil War history — on one stormy night before the re-enactment of the decisive 1862 battle. All six women wrestle with history and identity and try to make sense of their callings.

Lighting director Liz Droessler, scenic designer Chris Bernier and sound designer Chris Droessler take full advantage of the “black box” style of the Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theater at Barton College. The audience flanks the stage on three sides, and entrances and exits come from all directions. Artillery fire, thunder and lightning are real enough to make audience members jump. Chirping crickets set the opening scene.

Jane Holding as enigmatic Southern refugee Cecelia Pettison stands out among uniformly strong performances by the entire cast. Pettison is more of an anachronism than a re-enactor, a woman firmly planted in the 19^th century with an 1860s view of the world. Holding’s Southern accent is pitch-perfect, a drawl that never drags as she scathingly berates the Yankees who “come down here to kill our loved ones.” Her “Well, I declare!” could have been uttered by many audience members’ grandmothers. The characters and cast are left to wonder whether Cecelia is some sort of ghost or spirit. “Modern does not exist for her,” says the Widow Beckwith, a woman who has found a way to make a living off of “living history.”

Pettison’s counterpart is Clara May Abbott of the Massachusetts Soldier Aid Society, convincingly played by Mary Rowland, who is coaching Meg Barton, played by Hilary Edwards, on the fine art of re-enacting — and planting one’s brain in 1862. Edwards’ offstage scream is enough to silence a rebel yell. Likewise, Pettison is teaching Lucygale Scruggs, played by Leanne Horton Heintz, to ignore everything she knows that happened after 1862.

Into this schoolroom of historical fantasy comes the Widow Beckwith, played by Bonnie K. Allison Gould, and Park Ranger Wilson, played by Barbette Hunter. Officer Wilson tries to enforce the 21^st century rules while 1862 is happening all around her. Widow Beckwith finds ways to bend the rules to her commercial benefit. Things get out of hand just as Officer Wilson is trying to enforce the rules against overnight camping on the battlefield. The characters confront a past that is never really past with all its racial overtones, cultural differences and violence, sparking some angry words and some scary moments as they play by Shiloh Rules.

These serious aspects are leavened with large doses of humor about the anachronisms of re-enacting events that happened 150 years ago. The re-enactment gets out of hand, just as the real fighting did 150 years ago. The result is powerful and enjoyable theater that combines serious social issues about the ways we perceive history with entertaining humor lines. “Shiloh Rules” fits well into the theater festival’s focus on the Civil War as the conflict’s sesquicentennial begins.

—Hal Tarleton