In the year 1606, on a Roman tennis court, the artist Caravaggio killed an opponent after an argument over a foul call. A middle-aged mathematician named Galileo Galilei, who had not yet built his first telescope, published a book of observations about the recent appearance of a supernova in the sky. Japan's first shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, had recently begun his rule. The Dutch painter Rembrandt was born. In Oxford, Cambridge, and Canterbury, forty-seven scholars appointed by the king were laboring over a new translation of the Scriptures, which would come to be known as the King James Bible. A new play called Macbeth opened in London. And in late December, in London's River Thames, three small ships were anchored, awaiting a voyage across the Atlantic.

Price, David A. Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a new Nation New York: Knopf: Distributed by Random House, c2003

Christopher Newport University Director of Theater
Crosses the Atlantic to Research Captain Christopher Newport

News Release - June 7, 2004
contact:
Denise Waters
dwaters@cnu.edu
757-594-7331

Christopher Newport University Director of Theater Steven Breese will cross the Atlantic this July to further his research on the seafaring privateer and University namesake Captain Christopher Newport.

A member of the CNU Jamestown 2007 steering committee, Breese will research and write a stage play to be performed by TheaterCNU students in the spring of 2007. A pitch by CNU Professor George Hillow to sponsor a playwriting contest led Breese to begin his research on Newport. A sailor himself as well as a published playwright, Breese soon realized he had a keen interest in the project and wanted to write the play. Breese wrote a grant and went to the Dean for approval.

"As a writer approaching a historical figure, you first have to be hooked, fascinated by something," explained Breese. "You've got to want to spend hundreds and hundreds of hours studying and researching. When I went to Jamestown and took my first step onto the Susan Constant, I was hooked."

Breese credits researchers at the Jamestown Settlement and local museums with providing much of his base research on Christopher Newport and his famed voyage, however, his trip to London will help him gain perspective on how Europeans viewed the world in 1607.

"Where my research differs from traditional historians is that I want to know what this guy ate for breakfast, the conversations he had with his wife, and who he typically yelled at on the ship," said Breese. "I need to get inside the head of the people who participated in the world in 1607, especially those on this voyage."

 With a $3,000 grant from the University, Breese will begin his research in Newport's hometown in the Limehouse area of London. He plans to exhaust the libraries and museums in and around London. Through Internet contact, a historian at the University of Oxford has promised access to archives and original source materials. During his second week in England, Breese will visit the seafaring museums of the South Eastern Coast - the location in which many of Newport's voyages began.

As to the formation of the play, Breese is trying to remain open at this point. "I'm trying not to get boxed into an idea," he said.   "Stories tend to emerge when the dilemma is uncovered, 'What's the problem around which the play can evolve?'" He does offer that it's likely the majority of the play will take place on shipboard and will tie into the settlement of Jamestown.

Breese claimed, "Christopher Newport might just be the most famous man you never heard of." But not for long.   Breese's research is sure to reintroduce audiences to one of the most influential men in history.

Breese, who joined CNU in 2000, has enjoyed a national and international acting/directing career that has spanned more than 20 years. He holds his MFA from California Institute of the Arts and served as director of the acting program at Texas Christian University from 1992-1998. Breese was chosen to direct the first Russian tour of The Fantastiks, and in the summer of 1999, directed the critically acclaimed Romeo and Juliet for The Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. In the fall of 1999, Breese sailed around the world with the internationally renowned Semester at Sea Program sponsored by the Institute for Shipboard Education at the University of Pittsburgh.

Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls nearly 5,000 students through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Business. CNU's faculty and staff of nearly 1,000 focus on "students first," outstanding teaching, access and opportunity, and liberal learning. CNU is committed to leadership in the community and the Commonwealth. Visit us at www.cnu.edu .