Who was the famous “leader of the charge” and why does he matter so much to Bellingham and San Juan Island?

For more than 13 years Mike Vouri and folksinger Michael Cohen have been explaining who and why in drama, comedy and song in "The Life and Times of General George Pickett."  

For 2009, a special Friday Harbor Centennial performance is scheduled at 8 p.m., Friday May 23 in the San Juan Community Theatre in Friday Harbor, WA. The theater will also present the play, as part of 2009 Summerfest, at 8 p.m., Friday July 10. The play, in two acts, is also scheduled July 17 at Clark Community College in Vancouver, WA in partnership with the college and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The performance time is to be announced.

The play covers Pickett’s life from his boyhood in Richmond, Virginia, to his untimely death in the 1870s. Along the way, Vouri, as Pickett, offers a brisk interpretation of the 19th Century United States and its territories through Pickett’s life, which touched almost all of the major themes; while Mr. Cohen plays the banjo and sings period songs. The play covers the main events in Pickett’s life, including the “Pig War” when Pickett confronted Vancouver Island Governor Sir James Douglas and the Royal Navy over ownership of San Juan Island. The story culminates in the disastrous “Pickett’s Charge” that brought ruin to the Confederate Army at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.

The following are a few examples of what people have said about the play: Retired Hollywood director Andrew V. McLaglen ("The Blue & The Gray," "The Undefeated," and Shenandoah"): "George Pickett was reincarnated in front of our eyes. Mike Vouri as General Pickett relived this man's life with a magnificent performance climaxing with the fateful order to charge Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, which will always be remembered as Pickett's Charge."

Sunset Magazine's Peter Fish writes: "Tellingly, in his... performance, Vouri portrays Pickett in two acts. In the Pig War, he is cocky and comic. In the second act, after Appomattox, he is a living ghost haunted by the carnage he has witnessed."

The Journal of the San Juan Islands: "The trail (Vouri) blazes through 19th century America is enjoyable and believable, and it is an easy one for the audience to follow...it at Gettysburg that Vouri excels. His acting is in top form as he describes the definitive moment in Pickett's life." -- 1998 "Vouri brings a flawed man to life...But it is during the second act that Vouri demonstrates his acting, writing and storytelling brilliance. The famous charge into the Union lines at Gettysburg has never been so vividly portrayed. 'An Evening with George Pickett' is an event no islander should miss." -- 2000

Each of the players wears uniforms, U.S. Army and Confederate, and Vouri demonstrates replica weapons and equipment throughout the performance.

The play has been presented to enthusiastic audiences throughout Washington State and British Columbia, the former under the auspices of the Washington State Humanities Commission's Inquiring Mind series. They have also taken the play to Norfolk, VA for a command performance for the Pickett Society.  

Vouri is the chief of interpretation and historian for San Juan Island National Historical Park, which on more than 1,750 acres of woodlands, beaches, and prairies commemorates the peaceful resolution of the water boundary dispute (or “Pig War”) between the United States and Great Britain. He is the author of The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay (1999); Outpost of Empire: The Royal Marines and Joint Occupation of San Juan Island (2004); The Pig War (Arcadia Press, 2008) and Friday Harbor (2009). He has appeared in numerous theatrical productions on San Juan Island including The Laramie Project, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol and Private Lives. 

Mike Cohen has been cited by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the catalysts for the 1950's folk revival in New York City where he recorded and played professionally with the Shanty Boys Folk Trio and Oscar Brand. He performs solo for the National Park Service on San Juan Island and with the folk group Sugar On The Floor that he formed to support local service organization functions. His musical family includes his brother, John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers. Mike also is an ecophyschology professor, author and researcher. CONTACT: www.ecopsych.com

2009 Performance Schedule

May  22          San Juan Community Theatre

July 10           San Juan Community Theatre

July 17           Fort Vancouver NHS