in my humble opinion

A rose by any other name

By JONATHAN CHARLES FOX
Posted 12/18/24

Ever since moving to Sullivan County many years ago, I’ve been peripherally aware of Lucy Ann Lobdell. While it was my understanding that Lobdell lived in Sullivan County during the 19th …

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in my humble opinion

A rose by any other name

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Ever since moving to Sullivan County many years ago, I’ve been peripherally aware of Lucy Ann Lobdell. While it was my understanding that Lobdell lived in Sullivan County during the 19th century, it was her widespread reputation as “the female hunter of Long Eddy” and a private life made public that impelled author William Klaber to write his 2013 novel titled “The Rebellious Life of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell.” 

Described as a fictionalized account of the real-life person, Klaber’s book and Bambi Lobdell’s treatise “A Strange Sort of Being: The transgender life of Lucy Ann/Joseph Israel Lobdell 1829-1912”  are both based on Lucy/Joseph’s own writings, and are associated with dozens of articles written on Lobdell, none of which I have read.

So it was with renewed interest when I did read that “A new Farm Arts Collective (FAC) performance based on the life of a 19th-century gender non-conforming pioneer Lucy Ann Joseph Israel Lobdell” was being presented last week in the brand new FAC indoor theatre space.

As written and directed by Mimi McGurl, “Lucy Joseph”  combines “contributed story and texts from the FAC Ensemble, Mark Dunau, author William Klaber and historical texts by L.A. Lobdell and others.”

Produced as a staged reading, the original musical performance is presently “in development” with Jess Beveridge, Tannis Kowalchuk, Doug Rogers, Pam Arnold, Annie Hat, Laura Moran and John Roth.

“In development” means just that, and often serves as a behind-the-scenes sneak-peak opportunity for theatre goers to get in on the ground floor and observe how a new play comes into being, before being fully fleshed out into a main stage show.

Prior to the actors taking their seats, I scanned the director’s note in the program.

“The historical figure at the center of our play, Lucy Ann/Joseph Israel Lobdell, is very close to my heart,” McGurl shares, “and I know many people in our community feel the same way. I first heard about the Female Hunter of Long Eddy more than 20 years ago… I had the simple and pleasant feeling that someone not unlike me lived here on the Delaware River a very long time ago. Now, after years of research and reading, this feeling is not so simple.”

As the actors brought Lobdell’s fascinating story to life, I became more and more involved. While it’s still unclear how many performers will take the stage once the show is in full production, the reading—complete with stage directions—employed the not-so-easy device of multiple characters being embodied by a small group of skilled actors, simply by utilizing a hat, a scarf, a lighting cue or a tilt of the head with which to convey the array of personalities in and around Lucy/Joseph’s complicated life along the Delaware.

It was truly an ensemble piece, everyone contributed to the success of the production, but it must be acknowledged that Jess Beveridge shouldered the Herculean task of playing both the title character and his/her/their “wife” of many years with tremendous success. If I had my druthers, the fully staged production, slated for June 2025, would employ separate actors. Not because Beveridge isn’t up to the task of playing multiple roles—because she is absolutely convincing as both husband and wife—but because I didn’t want to have to keep up with the shape-shifting. Both roles (IMHO) deserve their own body.

Equally impressive was John Roth’s wearing of multiple hats. This guy can act. In fact, they all can, which contributes heavily to the success of this show—which I believe shows great promise.

I would be remiss in not mentioning the music. As performed by actors Doug Rogers and Pam Arnold, the original soundtrack is a character of its own and lends great theatricality to the overall production, elevating it and seamlessly lending a hefty assist in setting time and place.

As they say in the business “this show has legs,” and it is my belief that it could easily land Off-Broadway, (and beyond) in one of those productions where the program reads “‘Lucy Joseph’ was originally created, produced and performed by the Farm Arts Collective, in residence at Willow Wisp Organic farm in Damascus, PA.” Mark my words. This show is going places.

In conclusion, McGurl has this to say about Lucy/Joseph, the denizens of their world, and a complicated life which sadly ended in an insane asylum in Binghamton, NY circa 1912.

“Now, nearly two centuries later, one would think we as a society might have progressed in our thinking about these issues, relegating the harms done to Lobdell to our past. Yet, there are still powerful and influential people who insist that our genetic markings at birth remain forever the essential truth of who we are. So much so, in fact, that the current Supreme Court will almost certainly allow states to make accessible medical treatment to young people differently based on the sex they were assigned at birth. I would argue,” McGurl states, “that progress has been made in many realms during these centuries. Yet, Lobdell’s life stands as a beacon of exactly how much more work still needs to be done in order for all of us to have the freedom to determine, for ourselves, our own identities and our personal truths.”

For more, visit www.farmartscollective.org.

Fun Fact: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is a quotation from William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet.” This is the principle of things being what they are, no matter what name you give them.

farm arts collective, willow wisp, rose by any other name, lucy ann lobdell

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