Betrayal

Robert Crotty, a gifted writer and the author of The Teacher (2014), captures the moment. The brutality of the warfare, the everyday lives of soldiers, the jealousy and bitter competition among leaders, the seeming hopelessness of a war fought by conscripts and volunteers, George Washington holed up at Valley Forge, a Congress quarrelsome and bankrupt and a set of independent colonies attempting to band together long enough to support a campaign few understood or appreciated are all in the mix. It makes for rich and dramatic storytelling. The colonials through perseverance and fighting skill would stop the English advance and end the threat. The victory opened the way for the French to enter the conflict, decisively changing the balance of power. The end result would come later at Yorktown with Lord Cornwallis' surrender, the colonials triumphant. A new nation was born. It is all brought together by a creative and skillful author in this insightful and entertaining play capturing a critical period in the birth of America.