When recalling revolutionary figures and founding fathers, everyone knows presidents like George Washington and John Adams or stories like Paul Revere’s midnight ride. But does Dr. Joseph Warren ring a bell?
Roslyn playwright Robert Blecker’s new off-Broadway play, “Father Anonymous,” tells the story of this forgotten founding father, who sent Revere on his famous midnight ride and led Massachusetts in the months before his death at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.
The play premieres at the AMT Theater on 45th Street in Manhattan on June 12, five days before the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the first pivotal battles and American victories of the Revolutionary War.
“America just forgot this great hero,” Blecker said. “And these are times when we need heroes, and this was a genuine one.”
While working as a respected doctor in Boston, Warren became increasingly involved in revolutionary politics in the time leading up to the Boston Massacre in 1770, when British troops fired into a crowd of civilians, killing five, Blecker said.
Warren’s circle of associates grew to include Massachusetts statesmen John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and he joined pro-patriot groups like Boston’s Committee of Correspondence to organize resistance to British rule.
As the revolution ramped up, Warren became the second president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in May 1775, one of the highest civilian ranks in the country. One month later, he became a major general of the Continental Army just three days before dying at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Whether as a doctor or revolutionary politician, Blecker said Warren’s courage and leadership abilities earned him respect from fellow founding fathers and even his enemies, such as British Parliamentarians like Edmund Burke.
Blecker said Warren’s character can also be humorously shown when Warren has to make a pit stop to deliver a baby while on his way to deliver a speech commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Boston Massacre.
“You see that in one of the scenes, [people ask], ‘Where is Joseph? Where’s Joseph? Oh, my God, I hope he’s not delivering a baby!” Blecker said.
Blecker also said he’s been combining history with striking narratives of Warren’s relationships with his friends, family and colleagues to bring Warren’s story of sacrifice and service to life in his play.
While the play revolves around Warren’s life in the five years between the Boston Massacre and his death at Bunker Hill in 1775, each character brings a different emotional angle to the play.
Warren’s leadership and dedication to family are also shown through his younger brother, who Warren mentored and later founded Harvard’s medical school. Humor comes through characters like Hancock, best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, who also led with a charismatic personality, Blecker said.
“In the play, you see a person who is striving to keep his balance as a human being, and it was not only fighting a war for the sake of a nation, but he was still keeping his relationships,” Blecker said about Warren.
“And if it works, you’re completely unaware that you’re actually being given an accurate history lesson,” Blecker said. “You’re absorbed in the emotional relationships of the people, and you walk out with a feeling of, ‘Yes, now there’s a full person who only got to live 34 years because he sacrificed himself at Bunker Hill, but he lived a full life.”
The relatively small stage and lighting that evokes an 18th century candle-lit room also draws the cast, which Blecker said is still being put together, with the audience to bring an intimate feeling that the story is being told directly to you.
“Father Anonymous” has been in the works for 40 years, with Blecker floating around early scripts and story ideas while he taught constitutional history at the New York Law School.
Throughout the decades, Blecker has continued to tweak his script as he workshopped the play. The feedback led him to add different perspectives, such as those loyal to Britain, giving more nuance to the play.
Along with creating “Father Anonymous,” Blecker has written other plays, like “Vote No!” which tells the story of the Constitution’s ratification. Blecker is also a leading criminal and constitutional law figure who contributed his expertise to over a dozen documentaries.
Blecker said audiences of all backgrounds can appreciate Warren’s life story of courage and sacrifice, regardless of political belief. And if the play is successful, Blecker said, it would be great to see Warren earn the same recognition other founding fathers have received in pop culture.
“Hamilton ended up on the $10 bill. I mean, one of the goals is to get Joseph on a U.S. postage stamp and maybe revive the $2 bill and have Joseph on the [it!]” Blecker said jokingly.
“Father Anonymous” will run at the AMT Theater in Manhattan from June 12 to July 2. Shows will run Tuesday through Sunday at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit fatheranonymousplay.com
