Shenandoah : A Military Comedy: Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911

Bronson Howard's Shenandoah (1888) broke Broadway records with an unprecedented 100 consecutive performances, making Howard the first American playwright to support himself entirely from his work, a milestone in American theater history. The play approaches the Civil War through an unlikely lens: comedy. When Northern officer Kerchival West is billeted at the Charleston home of Southern gentleman Robert Ellingham, the war becomes a awkward houseguest situation. Both men love the same woman. Both claim honor. Yet somehow, under the same roof, they must navigate personal loyalty against national conflict. Howard's daring gambit was to find humor in 1861, wry observations about honor, class, and the absurdity of neighbors turned enemies, while never losing sight of the tragedy brewing beneath. It's a play about what happens when the country tears itself apart but the people inside it still have to pass the time together.