Androboros at Fraunces Tavern

Three hundred years after it was written, America's first published play, Androboros: Villain of the State, has just had its world premiere at Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan.

The play was written by Governor Robert Hunter as a commentary on the fractious political climate of New York in the early 1700s. Following the English takeover of New Amsterdam in 1664, a succession of governors were appointed by the crown, each of whom had his own conflicts with the local populace. At the heart of Androboros lies the fact that three factions were constantly vying for power in the colony: the appointed governor (always an outsider), the colonial assembly (made up of locals, but fractured from within by its own disagreements), and the church. The rector of Trinity Church, William Vesey, had a particular dislike for Hunter. When someone befouled the vestments in the church sacristy in 1714, Vesey blamed Hunter, while Hunter -- as evidenced in this only lightly veiled satire -- clearly thought it was an inside job designed to make Hunter look bad.

If you are a student of early American drama or fascinated by the real-life drama that was New York in the English colonial era, then this play is for you. An able cast under the direction of the Peculiar Works Project's co-artistic director Ralph Lewis inhabits these roles with glee. In keeping with the commedia dell'arte origins of the play, the characters are all given ridiculous names (Vesey is Fizzle, Hunter is the Keeper, and the pompous man meant to save them all is Androboros ("man eater")), and the actors live up to their monikers, particularly Matt Roper as Androboros and Caiti Lattimer as Aesop, who is always quick with a story -- whether anyone wants to hear it or not.

The company also does a good job keeping the 80-minute play moving at the brisk clip that farce necessitates. While Fraunces Tavern is mostly a 1907 recreation of a colonial building, it is nice to see the work staged in a building that at least has its origins in Hunter's era.

The play runs on weekends through the end of October; tickets are $20 each and are available at www.frauncestavernmuseum.org.

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Read more about NYC history in

 

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Postcard Thursday: Androboros

One of the most action-packed but least talked about periods in New York City history is the era immediately following the English takeover of the city in 1664. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, it seems that there was always someone in the city on the verge of revolt, from the enslaved African population to those citizens who chafed under royal rule. (We write about this era through the perspective of the Delancey family in Footprints in New York.)

In the midst of all this turmoil, Robert Hunter was appointed the royal governor of the colony in 1710. He arrived with 3000 refugees from Germany who he'd promised to resettle in the Hudson Valley, which immediately made him an unpopular figure. (To put this in perspective, New York City's population at the time was probably about 5000 people.)

Hunter locked horns with many figures in New York, perhaps most prominently the Rev. William Vesey, the rector of Trinity Church. At one point, someone broke into the sacristy of the church and befouled the priest's vestments. Vesey blamed Hunter, though no one was ever caught.

Normally, this might be the sort of story we learn about through diaries, or official letters between the governor and his bosses in London. But Robert Hunter, a friend of Jonathan Swift, was also a playwright, and in 1714 he produced the very first play ever published in the American colonies, Androboros ("man eaters"), a thinly veiled satire of his troubles as governor.

The play has never been produced.... 'til now.

On November 4, 5, and 6 -- just in time for the election -- the Peculiar Works Project is staging Androboros in a boxing ring on Bleecker Street. (And it's free!)

Find out more about this production and the play at http://www.peculiarworks.org/androboros2.html.

* * * * Read more about NYC history in Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City