About the Play:

The Andersonville Trial has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues and Male/Male Scenes.

The Andersonville Trial is a full-length drama by Saul Levitt. Based on the military trial of Henry Wirz, during the most critical point in American history, a commander of the infamous Confederate Andersonville prison is accused of causing the death of thousands of Union soldiers. This leads to the ultimate question: Can a soldier be tried for war crimes for following the orders of a superior?

The Andersonville Trial is a gripping courtroom drama about the Civil War-era military trial of Henry Wirz, the only person tried for war crimes after the Civil War. Based on the true story of Andersonville Prison, a notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp where conditions became so inhumane that it has been compared with Nazi death camps decades later. In 1865, Captain Harry Wirz is brought to trial to answer charges of murder and crimes against humanity pertaining to administration of the Andersonville Prison, where 14,000 Union soldiers died of starvation, disease and exposure – a prisoner of war camp that had the most deaths of Union soldiers in the shortest period of time. As told by John Chapman from the New York Daily News: "Wirz, a Swiss immigrant and a doctor, had enlisted in the rebel army, had been severely wounded and, a semi-invalid, had been put in command of this military prison. It was merely a stockade with no shelter from winter or summer, and its food consisted of rough corn bread. In summer, Wirz testified at his trial, a hundred men died there each day." Wirz said he was following orders and saw his obedience as moral. The prosecutor, Lt. Col. N.P. Chipman, saw the Civil War as a holy fight to end slavery and, believing himself morally superior to Wirz, ruthlessly pressed for the death penalty. The crux of this stirring play raises the question of when the responsibility of the individual to his conscience transcends any power or authority.

The Andersonville Trial premiered in 1959 at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York City. While this large-cast play is rarely performed professionally, it has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is has performed in regional and college theatre productions.

Cast: 28 male

What people say:

"A striking courtroom drama about a famous event in American history: the military trial of Henry Wirz, who was commander of the Confederate prison at Andersonville during the Civil War. The audience at Henry Miller's Theatre could not wait for the end of The Andersonville Trial to begin its cheering last evening…I shared the enthusiasm…An adroit courtroom drama…This is lusty theatre." — New York Daily News

"A hell-raising heart searcher…Broadway drama took a long step forward last evening." — New York World-Telegram & Sun

"An absorbing and thoughtful drama…A provocative study of the moral issues involved in the conflict between man's obligation to authority and to his conscience." — New York Post

"Playwright Levitt has made good use of two strong natural assets: a stormy trial, always a virtual synonym for lively theater, and one of the great mass-horror stories of history. Upon these he has raised, with frequently discernible modern overtones, a large moral problem of guilt." — TIME

"If you have never heard about the Andersonville Prison, it is because the story has been swept under the historical rug, particularly in the American educational system. A seldom-told story in our society today, it is a story that every American should know. At what point does the responsibility of an individual to his conscience transcend any power or authority, to just do the right thing?" — TheaterMania

About the Playwright:

Saul Levitt (1911-1977) was an American author of plays, novels and short stories whose plays about the morality of war were produced on television, on Broadway, across the U.S. and in theatres throughout Europe. He is best known for his Broadway hit play The Andersonville Trial, winning three Primetime EMMY Awards, and a Peabody Award when it was adapted for television.