The Civil War Lives in Lindsey Wilson University TheatreFest! Production of 'Shiloh Rules'

Comedy about reenactment of Civil War's first major battle to be presented July 31-Aug. 3.

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (07/22/2025) — The total number of casualties at the Battle of Shiloh was greater than today's combined populations of Columbia, Campbellsville, Greensburg, Jamestown and Russell Springs.

The 23,746 U.S. and Confederate soldiers who were either killed or wounded at the April 6-7, 1862, battle in southwestern Tennessee had been part of what was at that point the bloodiest clash in the nearly 12-month-old American Civil War.

In addition to marking the beginning of the end for the Confederate army in the war's western theatre, the war's first major battle brutally reminded the nation that the conflict between the states was going to be a long, ferocious war that would change the nation.

More than 150 years after that pivotal Civil War battle, another battle will be staged in the Lindsey Wilson University TheatreFest! production of Shiloh Rules, which will be presented July 31-Aug. 3 at V.P. Henry Auditorium. It is directed by Lindsey Wilson theatre professor Robert Brock, and it will be performed at 7 p.m. CT July 31-Aug 2 and at 2 p.m. CT Aug 3.

Written by Doris Baizley, Shiloh Rules is a six-character play set during a modern reenactment of the famous Civil War battle. The six women depicted in the play include four reenactors, who are contending for "Best Female Reenactor of the Year"; an enterprising and opportunistic concessionaire; and a U.S. park ranger, an African American who has reluctantly agreed to work during what she has dubbed one of the weirdest events that takes place annually at Shiloh National Military Park.

A comedy with depth

This is the second time Brock has produced Shiloh Rules, but it is the first time the play has been performed at Lindsey Wilson. Brock said that he wanted to revisit the play because it's a comedy that also deftly plumbs several issues that continue to confront the nation, including the meaning of and lessons from the Civil War.

"It's a comic story with really good characters," he said. "The play works really well as a comedy, but there is something deeper to the story. The plot does such a good job of taking the different perspectives that existed before the Civil War and were then brought out by the war, and then showing that a lot of those issues and topics have not gone away. Baizley does a marvelous job handling that."

Shiloh Rules also explores the phenomenon of historical reenactments and the people who take part in them. Although Kentucky was not the site of many major Civil War battles, it has been the scene of several reenactments, including the battles of Mill Springs, Munfordville and Perryville.

In Shiloh Rules, five of the characters are caught up, in various degrees, with reenactment culture, which Baizley's play suggests can risk removing a person from the modern day and trap them in the past. At various times throughout the play, the characters' reality collides with reenactment -- sometimes comically, other times poignantly, leading to a different kind of battle among the cast. One character becomes so immersed in historical reenactment culture that at times she appears as a ghost attempting to reconnect with the battle's buried dead.

As Brock notes, Baizley's commentary on the reenactors and their fidelity to the craft is another interesting layer in the play. Some of the characters seek refuge in the reenactments, others view it as an escape from the boredom of their quotidian lives.

"The reenactments are almost therapeutic for the people who do them and the culture they serve," he said. "These reenactors might not be people you want to hang out with. They are a little gung-ho and hardcore, but it means something very serious to them. This is not a silly little thing for them, it's very serious business because, for some of them, it's a way to fill a hole in their lives. All of the characters' lives are kind of a mess, and the reenactment helps fill it up. It satisfies a hunger, it calms a rage and anxiety within them. To many people, it might seem like a weird way to do that."

Brock has presented the historical characters Mark Twain and William Herndon, Abraham Lincoln's law partner, in one-act productions, but he said that is a different kind of acting from what historical reenactors do in places like Shiloh National Military Park, which can include an almost fanatical devotion to recreating the past.

"I can act, but I couldn't be a reenactor," he said.

"Shiloh Rules," written by Doris Baizley and directed by Lindsey Wilson theatre professor Robert Brock, will be presented by Lindsey Wilson TheatreFest! at 7 p.m. CT July 31-Aug 2 and at 2 p.m. CT Aug 3 in V.P. Henry Auditorium. To purchase tickets, go to theatrefest.org or contact the Lindsey Wilson Theatre Department at theatre@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8044.

Media Attachments