SECRET SOLDIERS: Heroines in disguise by wendy lement

SECRET SOLDIERS: HEROINES IN DISGUISE – The secret history of women who fought as men in the civil war is revealed in this engrossing production. Several stories are uncovered in an interlocking set of true tales of battlefront women, and an escaped enslaved person, with a focus on soldier Private Lyons Wakeman (a.k.a Sarah Wakeman) whose letters were discovered by her nephew in an attic years after her death.

In this unique production, the audience is enlisted to be medical officers who will decide the fate of Lyons Wakeman: whether the medical record will reflect this individual’s birth gender (and thus be denied a pension), or keep history hidden and receive all the benefits of military service.

Written by Wendy Lement, this play tells the true stories of women who fought in the Civil War as men.

First produced by Theatre Espresso in Boston, Massachusetts.

Photography by Christy Francis

CAST

Actor Track A – Joseph O. Cassell Roderick Garr

Understudy Talon Powell

Actor Track B – Dr. William Hire Charles McGregor

Understudy Clara Tan

Actor Track C – Sarah Wakeman Hanna Lipkind

Understudy Kaylie Horowitz

Actor Track D Avye Alexandres

Understudy Emory Redfearn