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Characters:
Narrator
Emily Geiger, 16-year-old daughter of a South Carolina farmer
Her father John Geiger
Amos, a neighbor and fellow Patriot
General Greene
General Sumpter
Scenes:
The Geiger farmhouse
The tent of General Greene
An upstairs bedroom
The tent of General Sumpter
All of the scenes can take place on the stage without elaborate sets. A rocking chair stage left can represent the farmhouse. A table and chair stage right can represent the tent of General Greene and later of General Sumpter. Center stage will serve as the room in which Emily is locked after being captured.
NARRATOR
In the summer of 1781 in a farmhouse in Maybinton, South Carolina, Emily Geiger worried about her brothers, Patriots who were fighting in the rebel army for independence from England. Many of their neighbors were Tories who believed that America should remain a British possession. Emily and her father feared for the boys' lives.
Scene I
(A knock on the door of the farmhouse. Emily goes stage left and returns with Amos.)
AMOS
Is your father here?
FATHER
(Rises from the rocker where he was sitting with his back to the door.)
Amos, what's going on?
AMOS
(Looks around to be sure no one else is in the room.)
Is it safe to talk?
FATHER
No one is here except Emily and we can trust her (smiles at her and she smiles back). She is a true Patriot, tired of the burned farms and ruined towns the British leave behind them.
AMOS
Good for you Emily. One can't be too careful; the Tories and their spies are everywhere. We're a divided people. We have to watch what we say in front of our neighbors.
Are you expecting to see your boys tonight?
FATHER
I doubt it. They slipped home for an hour two nights ago. I don't expect them again soon. Why? What's going on?
AMOS
It's bad news, I'm afraid. I hear that Lord Rawdon is marching his British troops toward the coast-coming by Granby.
FATHER
That is terrible news. It will cut off General Greene's communication with the rest of his army. The way I hear it, General Sumpter is camped on Wateree. If he and Greene were together they could cut Lord Rawdon off and defeat his troops.
AMOS
That's the problem. Greene knows he can't get a message to Sumpter past all the Tories and their spies on Morgans Range or down by the Congaree. River.
FATHER
Don't they have someone who can take word?
AMOS
It's too dangerous, and probably foolish. A lone rider would face certain death.
EMILY
(She has been listening intently.)
Father, I could do it. That's the way to Cousin Elizabeth's house and I know the way through the Congaree Swamp like the back of my hand.
FATHER
Don't be foolish, girl. Women have no place being involved in war.
EMILY
Papa, we've been in this awful war for five years now. Women make cloth and raise money and write pamphlets. Some women follow their husbands in the army and take care of the wounded. Women are patriots, too. We want our country to be free, just as men do.
AMOS
I'm sorry, John, but I think she's right. No one would suspect a woman, and if Sumpter joins Greene, it could change the course of the war.
FATHER
(Looking very troubled. Turns to Emily.). Emily, do you really think you could do it?
EMILY
I'm sure of it, Papa. Please let me go to General Green and propose the idea.
FATHER
(Lowers his head, rubs his brow. Finally looks at her.) I don't want you to do this, child, but you're a young woman now and I will not refuse to let you try if the General approves.
NARRATOR
In the morning, after a sleepless night, afraid, but determined, Emily rode her horse to find General Greene.
Scene II
Emily now stands stage right next to a table where General Greene is sitting.
EMILY
Sir, I'm Emily Geiger and I understand you need someone to take a message to General Sumpter.
GENERAL GREENE
(Frowning) How did you know that?
EMILY
My family and I are Patriots. We want a country free of British taxes and British soldiers. Someone told us you need a messenger, and I want to volunteer.
GENERAL GREENE
You heard right, I'm afraid, but . . . how old are you, girl?
EMILY
I'm 16, sir. General Sumpter is camped near my cousin Elizabeth's home. I know the way, and I have a fleet horse.
GENERAL GREENE
What does your father think of this idea?
EMILY
He's a Patriot, too. He will allow it if you will.
GENERAL GREENE
General Sumpter's camp is almost 100 miles from here. It's a long hard ride. (Pause)
Do you understand that if you are caught, you'll be taken for a spy-and the British hang spies.
EMILY
I know that, sir, but I think I have the best chance of getting through.
GENERAL GREENE
(He studies Emily.) I don't like this, but it may work, and we are in desperate circumstances. I will write a dispatch to General Sumpter, but if you are captured you must be sure to destroy this paper. (He writes on a piece of parchment, hands it to Emily, who folds the paper and slips it into her bodice.)
NARRATOR
(Speaks as she is taking the paper.) Emily took the message, folded it, and placed it in her bodice. She went home, packed bread and cheese and a change of clothes, said goodbye to her father, and started her dangerous journey. En route to General Sumpter, she traveled fast and rode hard. On the first day, some Tories, British sympathizers, noticed a young woman riding alone and reported her. On the 2nd day, she was captured by British soldiers. They took her to a farmhouse and locked her in an upstairs bedroom to wait for a woman to come to search her to see if she was carrying a message of some kind.
Scene III
Center Stage Emily takes out the message, reads it, closes her eyes, and repeats it slowing to herself. She reads it again, and repeats it one more time. Then she begins to tear the paper into tiny pieces, which she puts into her mouth.
NARRATOR
The woman searched every inch of Emily's clothing but found nothing. The British let her go, but they still appeared suspicious, and Emily knew they were watching her. To leave a false trail, she circled around, taking another day to reach General Sumpter's tent.
Scene IV
Stage Right (The table and chair are the same as in Scene I.)
EMILY
General Sumpter? I am Emily Geiger. I have an important message from General Greene.
GENERAL SUMPTER
(Studying her.) Is General Greene sending young women to deliver his messages these days?
EMILY
Sir, it was the only way. Tories are everywhere. I will have to write the message out for you. I destroyed the original when I was captured, but I memorized every word. (She writes on the piece of paper he hands her.)
GENERAL SUMPTER
(Reads the message.) This is a crucial dispatch, young woman. You were very brave to bring it, and I thank you. What did you do with the original?
EMILY
I ate it. And, sir, no meal has done so much to keep me alive and healthy as that one.
NARRATOR
General Sumpter gave orders for his army to march to join up with General Greene. When the British heard that the two forces were coming, they retreated. So it was that a 16-year-old girl with courage and conviction was a hero who helped to change the course of the Revolutionary War.
Questions for discussion
- Why was it so unusual for Emily to be allowed to carry the message?
- Do you think it would be unusual for a woman to be asked to go on such a dangerous mission today?
- How would General Green's message be sent today?
- What made you think Emily was an intelligent, quick-witted girl?
- Remembering the problems between neighbors in the play, how would you think neighbors felt about one another after the war?
- Can you think of anyone in our time who has done something heroic?
Vocabulary to understand
Patriot
Tory
Bodice
Dispatch
Parchment
Acting tips
In order to make this play easy to produce, use all three parts of the stage area. Stage right and stage left are the right hand and left hand sides of the stage as the actors face the audience. Center stage is in the middle.
No set is required. When a complicated full-length play is produced, special set designers come up with backgrounds and elaborate furnishings for the stage. For a simple story, imagination is a wonderful thing.
A few props could be used. Props are the things actors handle on stage. A rocking chair could be used to represent Emily's home. A table with a chair would represent the tents of the generals-the same table and chair for each general. You need a paper for the message. Added things, like an oil lamp on the table would work, but aren't really necessary.
Costumes need to be simple. Emily would wear a long dress or a long-sleeved blouse and a long skirt. The Generals would wear blue jackets (maybe borrowed from the band), and Emily's father would wear black pants (blue jeans hadn't been invented yet).
A possible drama you can make up
Sometimes it is fun to make up your own play based on what you have learned doing this one. One person could pretend to be Emily and talk about what it felt like to overhear the news and know someone needed to take a message. What would you say to talk your father into letting you take the message? Do you realize how dangerous it is?
Or, you could be Emily's father-how do you feel about the neighbors and the way they treat you? Are you afraid? Are you afraid for your sons and daughter? Do you think Emily should go? Why? Why not? Why are you finally willing to let her take the message?
Or, you could be one of the two generals. What do you think of this young 16-year-old girl offering to take such an important message? How desperate must you be to let her try it?
Or, pretend it is today, instead of the time of the Revolutionary War. What kind of threat might we have in America, or to America? How could you help to warn someone about an attack? Where are you and what is happening? How would you convince your father to let you be involved?
When we put ourselves in someone else's place, we begin to understand them better. Give it a try.
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