Writing The Battle of Franklin and watching it come to life on stage was one of the highlights of 2016. Director Matt Logan, songwriter Patrick Thomas, and an amazing cast of Nashville’s best talent breathed life into the story in ways that took my breath away and made it even better than I imagined.
When I wrote the show, I wasn’t prepared for how relevant this story of familial and societal conflict would be (the 2016 presidential election fell during its opening run), and I think its themes have become even more relevant since. One of the characters in the play says “History is Franklin. History is now” and that gets truer every day it seems. I’m glad the show is coming back, and I hope the audiences that encounter it will go home moved and unsettled and perhaps ready to look at the people around them in new ways.
I think there were ten performances last year and each of them sold out. Next month, Studio Tenn is remounting the show for a 16 more performances. If you missed the chance to see it last year, you’ve got another shot this September.
I know a lot of you are already traveling to Nashville for the Rich Mullins tribute show at the Ryman on Sunday, September 25th. If you want to make a weekend of it, The Battle of Franklin’s closing performance is Friday, September 22nd.
Here’s the just-released trailer for the show (and below that a behind-the-scenes short from last year.