Jefferson’s Garden

What did our founding fathers mean when they wrote all those high-minded words about freedom? In playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Jefferson’s Garden, two characters straddle the line between the founders’ good intentions and reality. During the tumultuous founding of the United States, Christian, a Quaker, is desperate to join the revolution and fight for freedom despite his pacifist beliefs. Susannah, a slave, is tempted to fight for the British, who have promised to set her free after the war. When the two cross paths, the contradictions inherent in “a nation conceived in liberty” are brought into harsh light. As Christian and Susannah meet figures like Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and Sally Hemings, they uncover the compromises our founders made, compromises that still echo today.

Jefferson’s Garden is a timely meditation on the realities of freedom of America at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Jefferson’s Garden
by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Directed by Nataki Garrett