Characters in "Three Fifths of a Man" by Dr. David Jorns

Currently the following characters are in the play:

Women: The three female roles are interlocutors or narrators who move the play along.

• Mary Corbin, the future wife of Robert Matson, his housekeeper/mistress and mother of one of his children was between 26 and 32 born in Kentucky or Virginia, possibly divorced and her temper caused the Bryants, the slave family, to flee.
• Mary Chestnut, age 24, South Carolinian aristocracy, her father was governor and a US Senator, her husband was a lawyer and later also a US Senator, married 7 years at time of trial in 1847, witty, active in husbands political life, and one of the most important diarists of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Men:

• Dr. Hiram Rutherford, age 32, born in Pennsylvania and educated at a medical college in Philadelphia, widow of 2 years and father of one boy, lived in Illinois for seven years in 1847, abolitionist.
• William Lloyd Garrison, age 42 Massachusetts resident, newspaper editor, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, very articulate and radical abolitionists. Famous nationally.
• Matt Ashmore, age 37, born in Tennessee, but had lived in this part of Illinois since he was 4 years old, tavern owner, school teacher, town founder.
• Orlando B. Ficklin, age 39, attorney, born in Kentucky, served in Illinois General Assembly, owned $4,000 in real estate, educated at Transylvania University, elected to Congress in 1843-1849.
• Abraham Lincoln, age 38, beardless, attorney, married for 5 years with 2 children, he was well-known and respected in his career, had been elected to Congress and would leave for there in two weeks after the trial, practicing law with Herndon for last six years.
• Robert Matson, age 51, Kentuckian, fairly wealthy, owned slaves, kind of a scoundrel, bachelor, served in Kentucky Legislature many years earlier.
• Usher Linder, age 38, Kentuckian, former Illinois Attorney General, member of the Illinois General Assembly, liked his drink, was a recognized orator.
• William Gilman, age 46, Kentuckian, tavern owner, lived in Illinois 7 years, not very well educated though served as Justice of the Peace.
• Joe Dean, age 52, Kentuckian, at one time owned two slaves, but owned no land in Illinois, but lived here, kind of "white trash."
  

Auditions in Oakland for Historical Drama about Lincoln

The play may be titled “Three Fifths of a Man,” but only whole men and women should apply.

Open auditions for this original play, about the 1847 Matson Slave Trial when Abraham Lincoln represented a slave owner for the only time in his law career, will be held on July 30 and 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Columbian Building in Oakland Illinois. The building is located at the corner of Pike and Main Streets on the picturesque town square.

All adults over the age of 18 are welcome and no prior experience is needed to audition. One minute prepared auditions are welcome, but not necessary. Tryouts will involve reading from the script written and directed by Dr. David Jorns.

The performance is part of an innovate historical program, Trial & Tribulations, on September 18 and 19 where audience members will informally meet seven of the characters from the trial at two historic sites in Oakland, enjoy an 1847 meal, and attend the performance of this play.

The mostly male cast will portray real people from 1847 highlighting their inner motivations as well as the historical events. Jorns explains, “It’s so unlike the Lincoln we know from school. He is human, a man of his times who struggled with this important moral issue for many years. This Lincoln is more complicated than the myth.”

The program is made possible in part by a grant from the Ruth and Vaughn Jaenike Access to the Arts Outreach Program of the College of Arts & Humanities, Eastern Illinois University.

For more information visit the project’s website http://matson1847.blogspot.com, email at trial.tribulations1847@gmail.com, or call 217-508-9113.