Richard Strand’s “Ben Butler,” currently on the Peterborough Players stage, is the dramatization of a real event at the dawn of the Civil War, but really, it’s about two very complex men, different only on a skin-deep level.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, thrown into a military position but with a lawyer’s mind, is faced with the moral and legal dilemma of what to do with three runaway slaves that show up at his fort, eager to join the Union and escape their bonds. The law, codified in the Fugitive Slave Act, requires slaves, even if they’re found in free states, to be returned to their owners, is clear – or is it?

“Ben Butler” is the kind of play where the intimate stage at the Players can truly shine – a cast of only four characters, with only three ever on the stage at the same time, framed by a static, fairly simple set that lets the actors explore characters who are deeper than they first seem. The production is a masterclass in character acting.

The play opens on a rather stressed and gruff Butler, played by Douglas Rees, slumped in front of his desk, only a few weeks into his appointment into the Union Army and head of Fort Monroe at the beginning of the Civil War, digesting the news of Virginia’s secession.

Enter Butler’s Lieutenant Kelly, played by Nicholas Wilder, a much more straight-laced military man, set to play the straight man to the more-boisterous personalities of the play. This is evidenced by his crisp salute, which is answered by a much more lackadaisical one from Butler.

What follows is a somewhat excruciating exchange about the exactness of language between Butler and Kelly, a somewhat slow start to the play that nonetheless sets up its major premise – words have power, and a good lawyer can make them work for him.

It is not until the first interaction between Rees as Butler and London Carlisle as Shepard Mallory that the play truly kicks off.

Billed as part comedy, part historical drama, truly this is a character piece, and the two most-fascinating examples of it are Mallory and Butler. Each, in their own right, men made up of contradictions.

Carlisle has a big lift here as Mallory, one of the three escaped slaves who has come to the fort seeking asylum. A man with a heavy history but still a hopeful outlook. A slave with some education, who cannot admit to it. A man angry at his circumstances, and forced to be humble.

A man, by his own admission, who is hard to like. And yet Mallory is tasked with making him likable – and succeeds. As the play unfolds, rather than a dry history lesson, the repartee between Butler and Mallory is sharp and sometimes biting, drawing some big laughs from the crowd at their most outrageous, but remaining grounded within the serious subject matter of the play.

It’s a meeting of minds as Mallory seeks a solution that will free him from his circumstances, urging Butler to use his lawyering skills to find a loophole. As the two verbally spar over matters of the law, equality, each other’s own uniqueness of character and whether or not lawyers have the ability to talk themselves around a word until it means something completely different, the two grow a somewhat reluctant respect for each other, and along with them, the audience grows that respect. 

Carlisle and Rees are the standouts here. They are the biggest personalities on display, where Wilder’s Leuitant Kelly plays the straight man, with subtler but no less sharp moments of wit. He also has the biggest arc of character throughout the play, confronting his own prejudices against Black people, and begins to let go of the idea that protocols matter above all.

Kurt Zischke plays Major Cary, a Confederate officer who visits the fort to retrieve the three runaways for his commanding officer. Putting on a puffed-up air and a strong Southern drawl, Zischke excels in the role of balancing comedy with being just unlikable enough to trigger Butler into changing his perspective.

Overall, “Ben Butler” is an excellent piece of theater, with the kind of deep exploration into character that the Peterborough Players has perfected. “Ben Butler” runs through Aug. 11, with shows at 7:30 p.m., and a matinee on Sundays at 4 p.m. The Players are hosting an NAACP night Aug. 10 with guests from the state and regional offices and discount tickets for all NAACP members.

For information or to purchase tickets, visit peterboroughplayers.org.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603- 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.