Play and music

The story of “First Freedom"

"First Freedom” is set in Virginia, during the period of the American Revolution.

In many ways it was a time very similar to our own. The country was engaged in a controversial war; one third of all Americans opposed it and one third supported it, while the other third was completely indifferent. Politicians were often celebrities—more popular with the public for their personalities and speaking style than for the substance and depth of their ideas. Religious and political rhetoric were often mixed to stir up support for—or opposition to—a new policy or idea. While the masses often clamored for change, they also clung to certain traditions, often unquestioningly.

It was also a time that was surprisingly different from our own—a time in which many of the wealthiest and best educated Americans supported the establishment of an official state church, while the most passionate protests against any mixing of religion and politics came from evangelicals.

It was a time in which a fast-living, hard-drinking college student could be arrested—not necessarily for drunkenness, but for missing church on Sunday mornings after an all-night bender.

It was a time in which the marriages of Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Quakers, Free Thinkers and all others were not recognized as legally unbinding unless performed by Anglican priests in Anglican ceremonies.

It was a time in which public preaching by any minister other than an Anglican was illegal. Baptist ministers, in particular, were often arrested, jailed and physically assaulted for doing nothing more than speaking in public.

Our show opens with the arrest of one such minister, and it is here that the young, unlikely hero of our show makes his entrance: James Madison.

Madison steps forward to defend the rights of the Baptist minister being arrested, but being small, sickly in appearance and not the most gifted public speaker, he is not taken seriously by those around him. Frustrated by a legal system that favors one religious denomination over all others, and determined to defend his fellow Virginians against religious discrimination, James Madison decides to run for office. “Politics—that’s a noble calling, is it not?” he naively asks his mother.

Madison is elected to the Virginia Assembly just as they are in the process of writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights--a document that seeks to legally establish religious toleration. But our young hero, realizing that toleration of religious differences is not the same thing as a right to religious freedom, attempts to propose some changes for the Declaration.

Being new at the game of politics, Madison decides to enlist the help of the most eloquent and popular politician of his day: Patrick Henry—or, as he was nicknamed by the Public, "The Son of Thunder!" Henry is impressed by Madison’s ideas, and decides to take the charismatically-challenged political newcomer under his wing.

“Believe it or not, my boy, I was once just like you: timid, insecure, and crippled with self-doubt. But all that changed at age nine,” Henry tells Madison. “Your passion comes through in your writing. Now it must come through in your voice, in your stance; it must blaze forth from your eyes! Others must be able to see with a single glance that you are a man with a message!”

Although Madison proves to be a poor student when it comes to oratory, Patrick Henry nevertheless enthusiastically becomes the young man’s mentor. Using his eloquence and political capital, Henry sees to it that Madison's revisions concerning religion become part of the Virginia Declaration of Rights—touching off a storm of controversy and debate among citizens every where. It is also through Henry that Madison is introduced to another central character in our play—one who will become not only Madison’s second mentor but also a life-long friend: Thomas Jefferson.

These three Founding Fathers—Madison, Henry and Jefferson—champion American independence, but following the Revolutionary War, it becomes obvious that Henry has very different opinions on how one is to live with Lady Liberty.

Madison champions a Statute for Religious Freedom written by Jefferson, which would guarantee freedom of religion by separating church and state. But Henry—believing that society needs a firm foundation in religion to remain moral—proposes a new tax that would support all churches and religious denominations equally. Madison suddenly finds himself the political enemy of his one time friend and mentor.

When Jefferson leaves for France to serve as a U.S. ambassador, Madison is left to fight Henry and the entire political establishment on his own. In the heated battle that follows, Madison finds his personal character under attack by many of his former friends and political allies. As the harsh realities of politics crush his youthful naiveté, the young man learns that in order to promote his ideals he must develop a stomach for playing the war-game that is politics. Ironically in the process of putting forth rational arguments for religious freedom as a Natural Right, Madison begins to have doubts about his own previously unquestioned religious notions.

"First Freedom" presents the little known but fascinating story of the passionate battle that our Founding Fathers fought among themselves in order to establish religious freedom as a right for all Americans.

Through drama, comedy and an incredible score by Emmy-Award winning composer Sam Cardon, this ground breaking musical brings to vibrant life great historical figures such as James Madison, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Mason—and it confronts head-on the constant struggle of individuals trying to live peacefully together as equals despite profound, deeply held religious and philosophic differences.

"First Freedom" made its world premiere in a successful workshop production directed by Jamie Young, at Western Wyoming College in November of 2006. Please enjoy a few video clips from the workshop performance.