Booth! The Story of Edwin Booth
“think no more of him now as your brother. He is dead to us now. With these words Edwin Booth, the great American actor, would commence a tortured existence. His infamous brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. In the search for the PresidentÕs assassin the Booth family once beloved by the American public, suddenly found themselves subjected to its ire and fury. This prudent advice from Edwin to members of the Booth family was aimed at their preservation from vigilante justice. Booth! is a reflection on the life of Edwin Booth. We journey into the atelier of this maverick actor and the significant events that have marked his life from the perspective of his daughter, Edwina Booth. Engulfed in this reflection, we undertake a musical voyage into the sometimes-disturbing relationships that defined Edwin the son, the husband, the father, the brother and essentially the actor. Undoubtedly, the dastardly act of his brother John Wilkes plays a major part in shaping and influencing Edwina’s reflection on the life of Edwin Booth.