History of Arguable Consequence: The Undertold Stories of the American Civil War
JackFiresideActor for Captain Williams
Captain Williams ($45): Lead/Male/Adult to Late-Middle-Aged. North American/American with a light Southern accent that can be thickened up to a heavy, country Southern and/or Louisiana accent. Williams was a real person, however there isn't much known about him. Based on his firsthand account of his escape from prison, and his recommendation by President Johnson for promotion, we've gleaned that Williams is professional, sharp, keen, but with a cheeky sense of humor. For a little more about Williams, visit this link.
ABOUT THE ROLE: Captain Williams is part of the 23rd Regiment of Kentucky Volunteers and was captured and imprisoned at Macon, Georgia, He recounts his multiple escape attempts, followed by his trek Northward to the Yankee pickets.
Along with Williams, voice actor awarded this part will also be asked to perform lines for one other major character (Captain Carpenter of the Jessie Scouts) and several other very minor characters (Colonel, Captain and voice in a crowd).
July 4. — [Be a little glib here, like Williams’ knows he’s clever] We made a Declaration of Independence, and came near gaining our freedom in the following manner :
During the day one of our number feigned sickness. At night when the doors were opened for the purpose of changing water, our sick man stole into an empty cell and his place in our cell was filled with a stuffed pair of pants and shirt.
Sometime before my escape I contrived to get hold of a confederate uniform, upon which I sewed two bars which indicated, in the rebel army, a first lieutenant. Five miles from the city I obtained a first-rate breakfast, for which they refused pay, thinking that I was what I represented myself to be, [thicken the Southern/Louisiana accent] "Lieutenant J. R. Brown, Fourth Louisiana Battalion Volunteer Infantry."
[The following bit is from the audio drama portion of the role -- you are responding to an old rebel who is suspicious of why and where you're traveling. The light Southern accent should be thickened through this part). WILLIAMS: My friend, if you do your duty you do well; but when you go beyond that, it is unbearable. I am a confederate officer, and expect to be treated as such. I have given you enough proof to satisfy any reasonable man; and if you were an old soldier you would have been satisfied with half the questions answered by me. I have to be in Forsyth on Monday next, in order to go to the front. If I go with you, I will have to come back tomorrow to Middlebrook's, and then I cannot reach Forsythe in time.
