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VOICE ONE:
This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember withEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we visit one of the mostfamous theaters in the United States. It is Ford’s Theater inWashington, D.C.
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VOICE ONE:
Ford’s Theater is both a happy and sad place. It is happy becauseit brings music shows and other theater productions to Washington,D.C. Ford’s Theater is also a sad place in American history. This iswhere the actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President AbrahamLincoln.
Today, the theater is a living memorial to President Lincoln’slove for the performing arts. It is also a museum operated by theNational Park Service.
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VOICE TWO:
For a few minutes, we would like you to imagine that it is theevening of April fourteenth, eighteen-sixty-five. You are one of theone-thousand-seven-hundred men and women who have come to Ford’sTheater tonight. You have come here to see a popular and funny play,”Our American Cousin.” The famous actress Laura Keene has broughther theater company to Washington to perform it.
The play will begin in a few minutes. People are walking into thetheater to their seats. The inside is bright with candlelight. As welook towards the stage, we see something unusual.
To the right and above the stage is a special small area calledthe State Box. It contains seats that President Lincoln uses when hecomes to the theater. For tonight’s performance, John Ford, theowner of the theater, has ordered that the State Box be decoratedwith flags. Near the bottom of the box and in the center is apainting of America’s first President, George Washington.
VOICE ONE:
President Lincoln likes to go tothe theater. But he has not had many chances to attend recentlybecause the nation was involved in the Civil War. Five days earlier,however, the forces of the southern states surrendered to end thewar. People in Washington are celebrating. Tonight the president andMissus Lincoln want to enjoy the funny play performed by Laura Keeneand her company of actors.
President Lincoln arrives after the play has begun. The actorsstop performing and the people in the theater stand and cheer. Theband plays a song to honor the president. Minutes later the playcontinues.
VOICE TWO:
President and Missus Lincoln have invited two guests to sit withthem in the State Box. They are army Major Henry Rathbone and ClaraHarris.
The play is funny and Mister Lincoln laughs. He leans forward alittle and places his hand on one of the flags to hold it downbecause it blocks his view of part of the stage.
The actor John Wilkes Booth enters the theater. He is there tokill the president. He strongly believes that killing AbrahamLincoln will stop the Union victory in the Civil War. He believes itmight help the Southern states renew their efforts to fight the war.
The people who work in the theater know Booth well. He is also afriend of John Ford, the owner of the theater. No one stops Booth.He slowly walks up the stairs that circle to the right side of thetheater. He stops for a minute and watches the play and then walksto the closed door of President Lincoln’s box.
Booth listens carefully to the words of the play. He knows itvery well. He has chosen the exact moment in the play when thepeople watching will begin to laugh.
Booth quickly opens the door tothe box, enters the small room and closes the door behind him. Hereaches in his pocket and pulls out a small gun. He aims it at thepresident.
VOICE ONE:
On the stage, Laura Keene and an actor are speaking lines fromthe play:
VOICE THREE:
“I am aware, Mister Trenchard, you are not used to the manners ofgood society, and that alone will excuse the impertinence of whichyou have been guilty.”
VOICE FOUR:
“Don’t know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I knowenough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing oldman-trap.”
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VOICE ONE:
President Lincoln died the next morning. Doctors could do nothingto save his life. Ford’s Theater was immediately closed. For a fewdays, police held Mister Ford while they investigated the murder ofthe president. John Wilkes Booth escaped Washington on horseback.But he was found twelve days later in Virginia. He was shot to deathwhen he refused to surrender.
VOICE TWO:
Three months later, Mister Ford was preparing to reopen thetheater. But the powerful Secretary of War Edwin Stanton placedtroops outside the building and would not permit it to be opened.The government offered to pay Mister Ford each month for the use ofthe theater. He had no choice but to accept the money.
In August, the War Department began work to change the theaterinto an office building. In less than one year, part of the held WarDepartment information. Another part of the building was the ArmyMedical Museum. Still another part was the Library of Medicine. Ineighteen-sixty-six, the government bought the building from MisterFord for one-hundred-thousand dollars.
VOICE ONE:
In eighteen-ninety-three, a terrible accident took place in thebuilding. Three floors fell down. Twenty-two government workers werekilled. Sixty-eight were injured.
For many years after that, the government used the building as astorage area. In nineteen-thirty-two, it opened a small museum tohonor President Lincoln. The National Park Service took control ofthe building.
VOICE TWO:
As the years passed, many people thought it would be a good ideato rebuild the theater. They wanted it to look as it did the nightPresident Lincoln was assassinated. They wanted to make the theaterinto a memorial to honor President Lincoln.
In nineteen-forty-six, a member of the United States Senateintroduced legislation that called for rebuilding the theater.However, it was not until nineteen-sixty-four that Congress agreedto provide more than two-million dollars to rebuild the old theater.
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VOICE ONE:
Rebuilding Ford’s Theater was difficult. The building plans forthe theater had been lost many years earlier. However, photographsgreatly helped the rebuilding process. The police had taken manyphotographs of the theater and kept them as evidence during theinvestigation of President Lincoln’s murder.
These photographs included the stage, the president’s special boxseats, and the seating area for the public. Many of thesephotographs were used to help rebuild the theater to make it looklike it did on April fourteenth, eighteen-sixty-five.
The rebuilding effort began in January, nineteen-sixty-five –almost one-hundred years after President Lincoln’s death. It wasfinished in December, nineteen-sixty-seven.
The re-opening ceremony took place on January thirtieth,nineteen-sixty-eight. American actress Helen Hayes walked on to thestage of the newly reopened Ford’s Theater. She was the firstactress to stand on the stage since President Lincoln watched LauraKeene in the play, “Our American Cousin.”
VOICE TWO:
Today, Ford’s Theater is a popular place for visitors inWashington D.C. People on holiday come to see the famous theater.Many buses bring school children to the theater to learn aboutPresident Lincoln.
The small museum is under the theater. It shows the clothingMister Lincoln wore that night long ago. It has the small gun Boothused in the assassination and many photographs. It also has alikeness that was made in stone from President Lincoln’s face.
Visitors can walk into the main theater to see the stage. Theycan sit in a chair for a few minutes and look up at the State Boxwhere President Lincoln sat. It is decorated with flags the way itwas then. Near the bottom of the box, between the flags, is thepainting of George Washington. Experts believe it is the same onethat hung there the night of the assassination.
VOICE ONE:
Many actors say Ford’s Theater is a difficult place in which toperform. Most say they do not look at President Lincoln’s State Boxwhen they are on stage. But the memory of what happened there isalways present.
A new musical play is opening at Ford’s Theater Marchtwenty-fifth. “Children of Eden” will be performed at until Junesixth. It is a funny play about family relationships. It includesmany different kinds of music. It is not difficult to imagine thatPresident Lincoln would have enjoyed a play like “Children of Eden.”He loved going to the theater.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byMario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.