The Chauncey Judd Adventure

A Review
by MARY CONSEUR
Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer

After more than an hour of fierce hand-to-hand combat on the Westover stage Sept. 15, the Patriots triumphed over the Tories in a decisive victory. The conflict was fraught with intrigue, romance, manhunts, kidnapping, robbery, and whale-boat chases before good finally won out over evil.

It was very inspiring to see the 50-member, intergenerational cast all working together to recreate the story of Chauncey Judd and a local kidnapping that fueled the flames of the American Revolution. Kudos to Tyler Loormann as the evil Captain Graham, to Katie Stevens as Kathy Dayton for her beautiful singing, to John Astyk in the role of David Wooster for a convincing British accent, and David Pope in the role of Narrator Josiah Bronson.

Written and directed by Robin Frome, the play was an adaptation of "Chauncey Judd: the Stolen Boy," which was written in 1874. Frome took some liberties in interpreting the story, weaving into the tale some new characters, such as Davy Pope, purported to be a former love interest of Ditha Webb. Actually Davy (David) Pope is a past president of the Middlebury Historical Society born, nearly 200 years too late to be a love interest of Ditha Webb.

In the stage version of the story, the scene opens with Chauncey Judd and his girl friend, Ditha Webb, in a Pub in Gunntown (now Naugatuck). In the original account, Ditha and Chauncey met at a quilting bee at the home of Ditha's friend. It seems unlikely that a proper young lady of the 18th century would have met her boyfriend in a bar. The most surprising twist in the play was the ending. After all the trials and tribulations that Chauncey endured, the audience hopes for a happily-ever after ending in which Chauncey and Ditha are united in marriage. Frome gave them the ending they desired. However, in the historical version of the story, Ditha and her family move to Ncw York State, and Chauncey never sees her again. He does eventually get married, but not to Ditha Webb.

Readers interested in the original version of the story are referred to "Chauncey Judd: The Stolen Boy," which was written in 1874 by Israel P. Warren, the great-nephew of Chauncey Judd. The book is available in the Middlebury Public Library and at the Naugatuck Historical Society.