George Washington wrote of him, “He was more unfortunate than criminal.” Alexander Hamilton said, “Never perhaps did any man suffer death with more justice, or deserve it less.” They are talking about Major John André, the tragic collaborator with Benedict Arnold.
First performed in 1798, William Dunlap’s André follows the charming and poetic anti-hero to the gallows. Written in blank verse, the play nods to its British predecessors while demonstrating distinctly American sympathies, attitudes, characterizations, and histories. Elfin Frederick Vogel directs.