Shiloh Rules

Shiloh Rules
A serious comedy. Six women at war. Two Union nurses and two female Confederate refugees struggle to hold their ground at Shiloh National Military Park in a reenactment of 1868’s bloodiest Civil War battle. Opposing them all is Ranger Wilson, a Black woman park ranger who wants nothing to do with 1868. As things slip out of control, a supply and refreshment stand operator convinces her the only way to restore order is to go onto the field in a Union uniform. None of them comes out unwounded or unchanged - except for the Widow Beckwith and her supply cart, moving on to the next war game. A dark comedy with serious intent.

Development: Taper New Works Festival, LA CA., Intiman Theater Reading Series, Seattle WA. Hedgebrook Residency, Whidbey Island, WA.

Workshop Production: New Century Theater, Northampton MA. 2001.

World Premiere: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery AL. 2002.

NYC: Flying Fig Theater, 2006.

Publisher: Playscripts Inc.

Press: It's not easy finding a new take on something as heavily scrutinized as the Civil War, but Doris Baizley has done it in "Shiloh Rules," an inventive comedy with some drama, history and first-aid tips thrown in. Sterling performances by the six-member, all-female cast make the production, by the Flying Fig Theater and Middle Tennessee State University, a rewarding trip back to, well, the present.New York Times, March 2006

Like the best war plays, Shiloh Rules thrums the heart and stirs the mind.Backstage, March 2006