The horrors of slavery, the trials of the courtroom, and the chaos of wartime collide in Richard Strand’s historical play Butler, staged at the Majestic Theater this month. Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler, a successful Massachusetts lawyer, is given command of Fort Monroe – a Union outpost in Virginia – at the start of the Civil War. While gauging the threat of attack, Butler comes face to face with three escaped slaves who arrive at the fort in search of sanctuary, and struggles to determine whether he has the legal grounds to seek their freedom.
Butler: Wednesdays to Sundays through April 3. $20-$30. Majestic Theater, 131 Elm St., West Springfield, (413) 747-7797.
