Berryville resident to portray ‘hangin’ judge’
By Ruth Marlow
Take a deep appreciation of history. Add a keen knowledge of the legal system. Mix these with a natural ability to assume another’s persona.You have the essential elements that Berryville resident Bob Wade will bring to fruition in his latest community theater endeavor, as he prepares to play the role of a former Union Army officer who later presided as judge over the trial of a Confederate captain accused of war crimes against Union prisoners in a Georgia prison.
The play, “The Andersonville Trail,” set to run this weekend and next on the stage of the historic Apollo Theater in Martinsburg, W.Va., is based on the true story of Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Ga., during the Civil War.
Wirz was put on trial afterward, according to a flyer promoting the play, because, although the prison was built to hold only 10,000 Union prisoners, its population swelled to 45,000. Almost 14,000 prisoners died due to inadequate medical care, shoddy sanitation, or lack of proper food.
“It was probably one of the first war crimes trials,” Wade said, noting it was later cited at the Nuremberg Trails of Nazi military leaders following World War II.
“The play develops the whole moral issue of a man’s higher duty than just following orders – is there a higher duty to your fellow man?” Wade said, noting that Wirz’s defense was that he was just following orders.
Wade describes the judge, Lew Wallace, as a tough, non-nonsense sort of person who ruled over his courtroom with strict control.
“He was battle-hardened and tested,” Wade said. “He was a hard-nosed lawyer and he was a hard-nosed (Union) general.
“And he was a hangin’ judge.”
Wade, a former attorney for the federal National Endowment for the Arts, said that background helped him prepare to portray Wallace.
“It’s sort of natural for me to play a judge,” he said.
“All lawyers, I guess, at heart are ham actors,” he joked.
Wade, who has been active in other regional community theater productions, said he also has portrayed characters such as a butler, a hospital psychiatrist, and a homophobic preacher.
Although it’s hard work, acting – especially live theater – is also fun and gratifying, Wade said, adding, “As long as you don’t mess up your lines.”
Performances are April 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 8 p.m, and April 13 and 20 at 2 p.m. A special performance for students only is scheduled for April 17. Tickets are seven dollars for students, $12 on Sundays, and $15 on Fridays and Saturdays.