Summer School

by Toby Zinman

The summer of the title is the summer of 1776, when the signers of the Declaration of Independence fully expected they would be hanged for treason. Syd Lieberman wrote this show with his wife, Adrienne, about the years and events leading up to that first July Fourth, and what happened to some of the famous and not-so-famous people after it. We learn about Benjamin Franklin's son, who remained loyal to the crown; about Betsy Ross, who eloped with an Anglican and was shunned by the Quakers; and about Thomas Paine, a former corset-maker who wrote a best-selling pamphlet. The Liebermans have organized an enormous amount of material into an hour.

Syd Lieberman performed it the first Thursday (three storytellers will take over for subsequent Thursdays). He is a short, rosy-cheeked, bespectacled man, with a mostly white beard; his voice is clear and strong, his memory excellent (no notes); in other words, he looks and sounds like a very capable college professor, not an actor. Summer of Treason isn't really theater — it has no dramatic focus, no characters — nor is it really storytelling — it lacks narrative power. Its language and sentence structure belong on the page, not in the mouth.

What Summer of Treason is is a good PBS-style history lecture. It's about information, not ideas. Leiberman's patriotism is sometimes stirring but sometimes sentimental, and no thought is developed ("How could they cry for freedom when they were profiting from slavery? Slavery was the crack in the Liberty Bell"). Many intriguing figures are merely mentioned, without ever becoming human. There are about a dozen potential plays here (for example: Elizabeth Graham, "the most learned woman in America;" the thousands of African-American slaves who chose to fight for the British during the War of Independence; Timothy Matlack, one of the "fighting Quakers" ), but this is not one of them.

Once Upon A Nation has created a series of programs for the summer: free five-minute storytellings at 13 benches in the historic district, pub crawls, colonial re-enactments and walking tours — both daytime and nighttime. Check the Web site to see the assortment of attractions.

SUMMER OF TREASON Once Upon A Nation at the Free Quaker Meeting House, 500 Arch St., Thu., 7 p.m., through Sept. 1, 215-629-5801 ext. 200 www.onceuponaation.org