Ford's Theater

Reading audio



2004-3-23

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with
EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we visit one of the most
famous theaters in the United States. It is Ford's Theater in
Washington, D.C.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

Ford's Theater is both a happy and sad place. It is happy because
it brings music shows and other theater productions to Washington,
D.C. Ford's Theater is also a sad place in American history. This is
where the actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham
Lincoln.

Today, the theater is a living memorial to President Lincoln's
love for the performing arts. It is also a museum operated by the
National Park Service.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

For a few minutes, we would like you to imagine that it is the
evening of April fourteenth, eighteen-sixty-five. You are one of the
one-thousand-seven-hundred men and women who have come to Ford's
Theater tonight. You have come here to see a popular and funny play,
"Our American Cousin." The famous actress Laura Keene has brought
her theater company to Washington to perform it.

The play will begin in a few minutes. People are walking into the
theater to their seats. The inside is bright with candlelight. As we
look towards the stage, we see something unusual.

To the right and above the stage is a special small area called
the State Box. It contains seats that President Lincoln uses when he
comes to the theater. For tonight's performance, John Ford, the
owner of the theater, has ordered that the State Box be decorated
with flags. Near the bottom of the box and in the center is a
painting of America's first President, George Washington.

VOICE ONE:

President Lincoln likes to go to
the theater. But he has not had many chances to attend recently
because the nation was involved in the Civil War. Five days earlier,
however, the forces of the southern states surrendered to end the
war. People in Washington are celebrating. Tonight the president and
Missus Lincoln want to enjoy the funny play performed by Laura Keene
and her company of actors.

President Lincoln arrives after the play has begun. The actors
stop performing and the people in the theater stand and cheer. The
band plays a song to honor the president. Minutes later the play
continues.

VOICE TWO:

President and Missus Lincoln have invited two guests to sit with
them in the State Box. They are army Major Henry Rathbone and Clara
Harris.

The play is funny and Mister Lincoln laughs. He leans forward a
little and places his hand on one of the flags to hold it down
because it blocks his view of part of the stage.

The actor John Wilkes Booth enters the theater. He is there to
kill the president. He strongly believes that killing Abraham
Lincoln will stop the Union victory in the Civil War. He believes it
might help the Southern states renew their efforts to fight the war.

The people who work in the theater know Booth well. He is also a
friend of John Ford, the owner of the theater. No one stops Booth.
He slowly walks up the stairs that circle to the right side of the
theater. He stops for a minute and watches the play and then walks
to the closed door of President Lincoln's box.

Booth listens carefully to the words of the play. He knows it
very well. He has chosen the exact moment in the play when the
people watching will begin to laugh.

Booth quickly opens the door to
the box, enters the small room and closes the door behind him. He
reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small gun. He aims it at the
president.

VOICE ONE:

On the stage, Laura Keene and an actor are speaking lines from
the play:

VOICE THREE:

"I am aware, Mister Trenchard, you are not used to the manners of
good society, and that alone will excuse the impertinence of which
you have been guilty."

VOICE FOUR:

"Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know
enough to turn you inside out, old gal -- you sockdologizing old
man-trap."

(SOUND EFFECTS) (MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

President Lincoln died the next morning. Doctors could do nothing
to save his life. Ford's Theater was immediately closed. For a few
days, police held Mister Ford while they investigated the murder of
the president. John Wilkes Booth escaped Washington on horseback.
But he was found twelve days later in Virginia. He was shot to death
when he refused to surrender.

VOICE TWO:

Three months later, Mister Ford was preparing to reopen the
theater. But the powerful Secretary of War Edwin Stanton placed
troops outside the building and would not permit it to be opened.
The government offered to pay Mister Ford each month for the use of
the theater. He had no choice but to accept the money.

In August, the War Department began work to change the theater
into an office building. In less than one year, part of the held War
Department information. Another part of the building was the Army
Medical Museum. Still another part was the Library of Medicine. In
eighteen-sixty-six, the government bought the building from Mister
Ford for one-hundred-thousand dollars.

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen-ninety-three, a terrible accident took place in the
building. Three floors fell down. Twenty-two government workers were
killed. Sixty-eight were injured.

For many years after that, the government used the building as a
storage area. In nineteen-thirty-two, it opened a small museum to
honor President Lincoln. The National Park Service took control of
the building.

VOICE TWO:

As the years passed, many people thought it would be a good idea
to rebuild the theater. They wanted it to look as it did the night
President Lincoln was assassinated. They wanted to make the theater
into a memorial to honor President Lincoln.

In nineteen-forty-six, a member of the United States Senate
introduced legislation that called for rebuilding the theater.
However, it was not until nineteen-sixty-four that Congress agreed
to provide more than two-million dollars to rebuild the old theater.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Rebuilding Ford's Theater was difficult. The building plans for
the theater had been lost many years earlier. However, photographs
greatly helped the rebuilding process. The police had taken many
photographs of the theater and kept them as evidence during the
investigation of President Lincoln's murder.

These photographs included the stage, the president's special box
seats, and the seating area for the public. Many of these
photographs were used to help rebuild the theater to make it look
like it did on April fourteenth, eighteen-sixty-five.

The rebuilding effort began in January, nineteen-sixty-five --
almost one-hundred years after President Lincoln's death. It was
finished in December, nineteen-sixty-seven.

The re-opening ceremony took place on January thirtieth,
nineteen-sixty-eight. American actress Helen Hayes walked on to the
stage of the newly reopened Ford's Theater. She was the first
actress to stand on the stage since President Lincoln watched Laura
Keene in the play, "Our American Cousin."

VOICE TWO:

Today, Ford's Theater is a popular place for visitors in
Washington D.C. People on holiday come to see the famous theater.
Many buses bring school children to the theater to learn about
President Lincoln.

The small museum is under the theater. It shows the clothing
Mister Lincoln wore that night long ago. It has the small gun Booth
used in the assassination and many photographs. It also has a
likeness that was made in stone from President Lincoln's face.

Visitors can walk into the main theater to see the stage. They
can sit in a chair for a few minutes and look up at the State Box
where President Lincoln sat. It is decorated with flags the way it
was then. Near the bottom of the box, between the flags, is the
painting of George Washington. Experts believe it is the same one
that hung there the night of the assassination.

VOICE ONE:

Many actors say Ford's Theater is a difficult place in which to
perform. Most say they do not look at President Lincoln's State Box
when they are on stage. But the memory of what happened there is
always present.

A new musical play is opening at Ford's Theater March
twenty-fifth. "Children of Eden" will be performed at until June
sixth. It is a funny play about family relationships. It includes
many different kinds of music. It is not difficult to imagine that
President Lincoln would have enjoyed a play like "Children of Eden."
He loved going to the theater.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by
Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another
EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.


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