A King‘s Harem: New Play Probes the Polygamous Life of Beaver Island‘s King Strang

Murder, mystery, polygamy and politics; it’s all in the new play at Old Town Playhouse, “Wives of an American King,” by Anne-Marie Oomen.
The true story of when James Jesse Strang was the Mormon “king” of Beaver Island takes a turn into the heart as Oomen tells it from the perspective of his five wives.
“Little is known about the wives, thus they make excellent material for historical fiction,” Oomen says. “It was fun to write about them with the freedom to imagine what they might have been like; to make a play that is literary and imaginative more than historical. I wanted to take these almost invisible women and make them talk to us through the lens of our own time, calling on the universal experiences of women, especially women who have had to subvert their power.”
Strang came to Beaver Island in the mid-1800s with a newly-formed sect of Mormons who saw him as their prophet and leader. Although this sect claimed to be against polygamy, God soon revealed to James that he should take a second wife, and then three more after that.
Strang was the father of 13 children, so perhaps some of you reading this are related to him. During the decade that he ruled as self-appointed king of the island he also served two terms in the Michigan legislature, and was accused and acquitted of treason in a high profile trial. He was assassinated by his own followers in 1856.
CAST & CREW
Phil Murphy brings authenticity to the part of Strang in the play. The wives are played by Kelly Curtis, Karen Haspas, Michelle Perez, Nicole Case and Bonnie Deigh, who also play the roles of male counterparts. This creates some interesting ironies, parallels, and a challenge to the audience, not to mention director Jeanette Mason.
Another contribution to the production is that of musician Thomas Stokes who adapted, arranged and conducted traditional American hymns for the play. Supported by a production crew that includes Steve Morse as technical director, Rosanne Fifarek and Mary Gillette as co-directors, Diane Hubert as Producer, Jeff Kroeger on set construction, Gary Bolton on sound, Barbara and Dan Goodearl doing props, Kathy Verstraede doing costumes, and Dick Cieslik and Vickie Mathis as co-stage managers there is little doubt of the quality of “Wives of an American King.”

ABOUT ANNE-MARIE
Anne-Marie Oomen is Chair of Creative Writing at Interlochen Arts Academy, author of two chapbooks of poetry; the memoir, “Pulling Down The Barn,” (Wayne State University Press); and editor of “Looking Over My Shoulder: Reflections on the Twentieth Century,” a collection of writing by older adults. Of the eight plays Oomen has written, OTP has premiered most of them. Several have also been produced in theaters around the Midwest. On Thursday, February 17 there will be a question and answer session with her after the play for interested writers and historians.
What is it that attacts Oomen to history as a topic?
“Maybe it’s laziness,” she says. “I’ve always loved working with history as a base because it gives you some inkling of narrative from which to begin shaping real plot. You’re given a kind of half story and you have to ask yourself what kinds of characters would make this event happen. What would they have to be thinking, or believing, in order for this to occur? It’s like putting together a complicated puzzle rather than making up the puzzle from the scratch.”

Performances of “Wives of an American King” run February 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, and 26 in the Studio Theater at the Old Town Playhouse at the corner of Cass and Eighth in TC.

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