EMU Theatre

EMU Theatre presents the world premiere of "Boston's Final Borning"
An interview with Lawrence playwright Ron Willis
by Tom King

Ron Willis is a professor emeritus who taught theatre at KU from 1970-2000. He is an actor, a playwright and has directed over 60 plays.

Before this interview, I had never heard of Boston Corbett. Who is he, and why did his story appeal to you?

I was intrigued by the prospect of exploring the imagined mental life of a controversial historical figure who is largely forgotten, or dismissed by most commentators as a madman. Boston Corbett, if he is remembered at all, is known as the soldier who shot John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. From that moment on Boston ’s life became one filled with torment and confusion. Not to say that his life hadn't been somewhat chaotic up to that point. He was a hat maker by trade, and lost both his wife and his security at an early age from drinking. In those years, Corbett heard God's voice often and clearly. His given name was Thomas. He was "saved" by a street preacher in Boston--hence the name change--and as a testament to his regained purity, he castrated himself to abate his lust. He spent five months in Andersonville Prison, and was released just in time to shoot John Wilkes Booth.

Why did he kill John Wilkes Booth?

Corbett was one in a detachment of soldiers sent to track down Booth, about a week after the Lincoln assassination. They found Booth and an accomplice holed up in a tobacco-drying barn. From where Corbett was positioned, he could see Booth through a hole in the wall. After the fact, he said that he'd seen Booth raise his rifle to shoot at the soldiers, and that's why he fired. There was a huge uproar after this. The army wanted to take Booth alive, and Booth sympathizers--and there were quite a few of them at that time--were calling for Corbett's head. And Corbett himself was very confused. He felt he didn't deserve the criticism and hatred directed at him. He eventually sought peace by becoming a Kansan. He lived in Concordia and Topeka for the decade before his mysterious disappearance sometime after 1890. Interestingly, he served briefly as an Assistant Doorkeeper for the Kansas House of Representatives.

How do you distill all this down to a one-man play?

It seems probable that no man, no matter how others may judge him, sees himself as crazy. History writes him off as a religious fanatic and a madman, but in this play Boston explains his life from his own perspective, refuting the lies he feels others have written about him. His ultimate goal is to revive his devout connection with God. To do this he believes he must be “born again” and so he undertakes to set the historical record straight in in the minds of his audience in order to facilitate that “final borning” in God’s eyes. As for the staging, it's bare bones: a table, a bible, a pan of water and a cup. We're working mostly on the nuances of acting, on how to express and engage--because believe me, an hour-long, one-man performance ain't easy.

You did a reading of "Boston's Last Borning" in your basement a little over a year ago...

I'd been working on it a long time. I'm still working on it. For me, theatre isn't about churning out "things"--it's about process. English departments teach you how to make "things", but to my mind, theatre is about process. I felt that "Boston" was shaping up nicely so I staged a preview performance in my basement to get some feedback. The audience's response was positive, and here we are today.

This EMU production is the public debut?

Yes, this is the premiere of the show and depending on the audience's response and interest we may seek performances elsewhere. But for the first performance, I liked the idea of a small, intimate theatre, and I had good experiences directing plays for EMU in the past. A few of my former students are EMU members. I can't think of any group in the region that has had the staying power that EMU does. They are the dominant voice for fledgling playwrights in Lawrence; they are our local champions of alternative theatre.