Article Title: Montpelier's Sarah Payne in "Oh Victoria" Tours Ohio Under a Tent

Edition: August 2000
Category: Arts/Music/Theater
Author: Sarah Longman Payne
Article:

Editors note: Montpelier resident Sarah Longman Payne spent five weeks this summer touring Ohio as part of a group of actors representing famous Ohioans. She represented Ohioan Victoria Woodhull who was an early advocate for equal rights for women and who ran for president in 1872. Payne has studied the Woodhull character and played her in various venues in Vermont over the past several years. The Ohio Humanities Council selected Payne to represent Woodhull. Some of Paynes reflections on her tour, called Chatauqua 2000, follow. (end of editor's note)

Driving into Lancaster, Ohio, we were greeted by a huge banner over the street proclaiming "Chatauqua is Coming!" This is the first stop on our tour and there are posters and banners everywhere. The great red- and-white striped tent, which is to be our venue for the next five weeks, is pitched at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds.

Chatauqua 2000 planning began last fall, when the Ohio Humanities Council and the Humanities Institute at Ohio State began to shape "Creating the 20th Century: Ohio Voices." There were five of us selected, actors who represented important Ohio characters who spanned the turn of the past century.

We all have very different approaches to presenting our characters: Professional actor Hank Finken of Indianapolis enjoys improvisation. Chuck Charlberg, a history professor from Minnesota, does baseball general manager Branch Rikey. Herb Martin is an English professor and poet in residence at the University of Dayton and he depicts poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Damian Browerman, a graduate student, was John D. Rockefeller. And me, I am Victoria Woodhull . . .

Its the second night in Lancaster and the picnic is in a downpour. The winds drive rain horizontally and whip it through the picnic shelter. Branch Rickey takes the stage tonight and its a noble performance. Thunder rumbles outside and lightning flashes. He has to pause twice to let the noise subside. While Rickey talks about buying and selling baseball players, the rude sound of a cell phone rings out.

"I wonder if thats someone wanting to buy my second baseman," he quips.

The road from Lancaster leads through Victoria Woodhulls hometown of Homer. I stop for lunch with my friends Joe and Bea Berg who maintain files on Victoria for the Homer Historical Society. Anyone who is serious about studying Victoria needs to contact the Bergs. They share some new information they have just received about Victorias second husband Colonel James Blood. That information will come to prove useful in later question periods.

My alter ego, Victoria Woodhull, and I have been touring Vermont for the past five years. But Chatauqua is nothing like Ive ever done before. A performance is only part of the tour and the activities are different in every town. Traveling with a troupe is great fun. One is an individual performer and part of a "cast" at the same time. We only met at a rehearsal last April but by the end of the five weeks, we have become old friends.

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