The last post on Colonial Williamsburg, been nice visit, but ready to move on now. The last building we visited was the Capitol. This building was the legislature and court for English Crown. House of Burgesses met here, they were the equivalent of our congress today. Now you might be confused, I showed the court house yesterday. Well the difference is the Courthouse was used for misdemeanor or civil cases, while the Capitol was used for crimes against he English Crown or felonies.
There were many events I would call street theater, people playing a person of the past. The example here is John Madison and George Wythe discussing 1775, the issues of the day that would lead up to the Deceleration of Independence. What is interesting, the audience can ask questions, so they are not just using a script, they have to be knowledgeable of their character and events of the day. Then the evening I attended a play called ‘To Hang a Pirate’. It was the 1719 trial of one of Black Beards Pirates. They were actually caught off the coast of North Carolina in 1718 and Black Beard was killed. I couldn’t take any pictures during the trial, but it was really entertaining. Cool thing, I got there early, so I could sit by the judge and it was also in the evening, so they only used candle light.
Lastly was the street theater in front of the Raleigh Tavern calling to arms against the British. How fitting that this ends my visit to Colonial Williamsburg. The Fife and Drum March…..
