THE KILLER ANGELS

"A sweeping historical drama and compelling story

that takes hold dramatically.

Ambitious. Energetic.

Does it work? A qualified yes!"

Michael Toscano

The Beacon Newspapers

THE

KILLER ANGELS

by Karen Tarjan

adapted from the

Pulitzer Prize winning novel

by Michael Shaara

General Robert E. Lee

We're happy to have the exclusive Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania PREMIERE rights to present the play, "THE KILLER ANGELS" during the Spring and Summer of this year (2007) and through 2013 (the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg).

Ever since elementary school, I've had a fascination with the American Civil War. I recall many field trips made to the Gettysburg battlefield, and I'm thankful for the many teachers who placed faces on the names and numbers, and made certain that a day away from the classroom was far more than a history lesson.

Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

A history buff with a very deep interest in psychology, I have always been baffled by General Robert E. Lee's decision to order several divisions -- tens of thousands of men -- to cross an open sunscorched Pennsylvania field marching shoulder to shoulder a mile in length, directly into Union artillery and muskets which would mow them down like blades of grass. Did Lee really believe it would be successful? Was it an act of desperation? Was Lee stubborn? Was it due to what Lee himself admitted at one time: his refusal to leave the enemy in command of the battlefield? Or perhaps ... was Lee mad? Did the heavy 50,000 combined Union and Confederate losses over that 3 day period in July of 1863 get the better of him? Even more baffling is the absolute power that he had over all those men who made the supreme sacrifice that day without ever once questioning his authority ... or sanity, in ordering such a death march for tens of thousands.

Lieutenant General James Longstreet

In 1990 I read the novel, "THE KILLER ANGELS" by Michael Shaara. It was unlike any other historical novel I had ever read in that the reader was made to feel a connection to those on both sides. We saw their weaknesses, not just their strengths. We felt their humanity, not just the brutality. They were given lives outside their military careers: they had wives, girlfriends, siblings, children, and friendships and loyalties which crossed over the arc of "enemy" lines. They loved. They laughed. They bled. They hurt. They cried. And they died. As I read it, I remember saying to myself "This would make a terrific play. I hope someone writes it."

Major General John Buford (seated) and staff

During the summer of 1992, TNT filmed the motion picture, "GETTYSBURG" based on the novel, "THE KILLER ANGELS," which was televised for the first time in 1994. Once again I said to myself "This would make a terrific play. I hope someone writes it." As fate would have it, someone wrote it. And as fate would have it, we received the exclusive tri-state theatrical performance rights on July 2, 2006: the anniversary of the Battle of Little Round Top: the day that turned the direction of the war, which enabled a country to be united, and its citizens freed.

Karey Faulkner

Producing Artistic Director

THE KILLER ANGELS