Jefferson and Adams: A Stage Play by Howard Ginsberg

About the Play

To be performed on Monticello’s iconic West Lawn, you can experience the passion and ideals that inspired a revolution and the birth of a new nation through the eyes of Thomas Jefferson and his good friend, fellow revolutionary and political rival, John Adams. Written by Howard Ginsberg and based on his original play, Jefferson & Adams is the moving and powerful dramatization of the remarkable friendship between two presidents of the United States, with the forthright Mrs. Adams always playing a major role.

Playwright Howard Ginsberg draws from their prolific correspondence to tell the story of the turbulent 52-year friendship between Jefferson, Adams and Adams’ wife, Abigail, in a poignant stage performance that combines compelling political thought with passionate personal beliefs. The production features Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson; Sam Goodyear as John Adams; and Abigail Schumann as Abigail Adams. 

Concessions, including award-winning Jefferson Vineyards wine and our own Monticello beer, will be available.

Join us before the play for Pen to Paper, a VA250 Signature Event. 

About the Performers

Veteran historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker is widely recognized as the nation’s foremost interpreter of Thomas Jefferson. After portraying Thomas Jefferson at Colonial Williamsburg for 26 years, Barker joined the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello in 2019. Barker began interpreting Jefferson in 1984 — fittingly, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Combining the tools of theater with rigorous historical scholarship, his approach explores Jefferson’s life and times, and how it relates to our world today.

Sam Goodyear has portrayed variously James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Rush, Cole Porter, U.S. Grant, and Santa Claus. The figure with whom he most identifies, however, is John Adams, since appearing in the 1995 world premiere production of Jefferson & Adams at the Leatherstocking Theatre Company in Cooperstown, NY. John Adams himself regretted never visiting Monticello, and thus this presentation can be seen as a posthumous wish come true.

Abigail Schumann is a Virginia-based actor and living history performer, and a past recipient of the Women in American History Award, presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution, for her work interpreting women’s lives through performance.

Monticello gratefully acknowledges the partnership of More Perfect in our 250th anniversary initiatives.