Mt. Misery

Cutting Ball’s resident playwright Andrew Saito examines the United States’ inconsistent progress on issues of power and race through the colliding histories of two prominent American figures on one shared tract of land. On a plantation in a small Maryland town, a teenaged slave named Frederick Douglass once fought and triumphed against an overseer named Edward Covey. The moment would permanently alter the course of Douglass’ life, freeing him from fear and building a new sense of agency. In 2003, Covey’s home, “Mount Misery,” was purchased by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for $1.5 million. In Mt. Misery, Saito imagines Rumsfeld and Douglass’ interactions across time. Mt. Misery was commissioned by Cutting Ball and developed as part of the 2014 edition of RISK IS THIS… The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival.