Deborah (The Mostly True Tale of a Revolutionary Woman)

Olivia Flores Alvarez June 14, 2012 4:00AM

[
          {
            "name": "Related Stories / Support Us Combo",
            "component": "11591218",
            "insertPoint": "4",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "4"
          },{
            "name": "Air - Billboard - Inline Content",
            "component": "11591214",
            "insertPoint": "2/3",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "7"
          },{
            "name": "R1 - Beta - Mobile Only",
            "component": "12287027",
            "insertPoint": "8",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "8"
          },{
            "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size 2",
            "component": "11591215",
            "insertPoint": "12",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "12"
          },{
            "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size 2",
            "component": "11591215",
            "insertPoint": "4th",
            "startingPoint": "16",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "12"
          }
          
            ,{
              "name": "RevContent - In Article",
              "component": "12527128",
              "insertPoint": "3/5",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "5"
            }
          
        ]

It's no surprise that Elizabeth A.M. Keel, an independent, adventurous woman, wrote Deborah (The Mostly True Tale of a Revolutionary Woman), a play about another independent, adventurous woman. ''Yes, there are shameless parallels,'' Keel tells us laughing. Keel was in high school when she first found Deborah Sampson, a woman who masqueraded as a man in order to fight during the Civil War. ''I thought, 'Oh, that's cool. I should write a story about it one day,' and then I shoved it into my To Be Written One Day drawer.'' The story stayed there until recently when Keel, the current Artist-in-Residence at 14 Pews, was given the opportunity to mount an original play in the intimate space. ''Deborah is well known for being a soldier in the first part of her life, but in the second part of her life, she was one of the first females in the country to go on tour to give lectures. She would give talks about her adventures in little town halls, a lot like the space [here] at 14 Pews. So [when I was asked] what I wanted to do in the space, Deborah jumped to the front of my mind. She was like, 'Me! Me! It's my turn! Write me!' So I obeyed.''

8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and September 9, 2 p.m. Sundays. Through September 14. 14 Pews, 800 Aurora. For information, call 281-888-9677 or visit 14pews.org. $10 to $13.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 8, 2 p.m.; Mon., Sept. 9, 8 p.m. Starts: Sept. 5. Continues through Sept. 14, 2013

KEEP THE HOUSTON PRESS FREE... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.

Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1.

Olivia Flores Alvarez

Contact: Olivia Flores Alvarez

Deborah (The Mostly True Tale of a Revolutionary Woman)

Trending Arts & Culture

[%title%]

Deborah (The Mostly True Tale of a Revolutionary Woman)

Trending Arts & Culture

[%title%]

Latest Stories