Pat Phillips portrays Sen. Margaret Chase Smith during a one-woman play at Edward Little High School.

Woman details life of Sen. Smith in play

AUBURN – Out of the Box Theater presented the premiere of “Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington” at Edward Little High School recently. Authored by Linda Britt, co-founder of the theater with her husband, Stan Spilecki, the one-woman play was held in Alicia Hunter’s American Literature classes.

Pat Phillips delivered the story of Maine Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith’s life from the time she was the captain of her high school state champion basketball team until her death at age 97.

The play featured the senator’s famous Declaration of Conscience speech delivered on the floor of the Senate on June 1, 1950. It brought her national attention and demonstrated her courage and independence, as well as her devotion to conscience and justice. Smith was the first to express opposition to the excesses of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade.

Hunter’s class is currently reading and discussing “The Crucible” by playwright Arthur Miller. The book is set against the backdrop of the Salem witch trials in the late 17th century. Miller, himself, was targeted during the “Red Scare” of the McCarthy era, and wrote the book during the period when Americans were being accused of Pro-Communist beliefs.