Capt. Newport inspires play

BY ANGELA FOREST
247-7863

July 30 2004

NEWPORT NEWS -- He knew the sea, loved the sea and died at sea.

But in the estimated 57 years that Christopher Newport lived, the captain, licensed pirate and British Navy officer was often in the midst of exciting and sometimes horrific experiences, said Steven Breese, an associate professor and director of theater at Christopher Newport University.

Newport and other sailors who fought the Spanish at sea on behalf of England's Queen Elizabeth in the late 1500s faced plenty of danger. But they also saw land and acquired wealth others could only imagine. The fighting cost Newport some of his right arm.

"Lots of people died," said Breese, who is writing a play on Newport's life. "It was a horrible, ugly and quite wonderful time, too."

Breese is conducting research for the play, which he describes as "historical fiction" partly because so little is known about Newport's life. The play will be performed during festivities for the 2007 celebration of the Jamestown Settlement. His research took him to London for several weeks earlier this month.

Years after robbing and killing Spanish sailors during England's undeclared war against Spain and Catholicism, Newport accepted an offer from the Virginia Company of London to captain one of three ships headed to the New World in 1606.

The travelers went on to create Jamestown in May 1607, the first permanent English settlement in America.

What historians also know is that Newport married three times, outliving two of his wives. He also saved the life of Capt. John Smith at least twice. At Jamestown, the colonists demanded Smith's death in 1608 when Indians killed some settlers under his leadership.

The night of Smith's scheduled execution, Breese said, Newport sailed into town, looked at the dispirited, starving colony and demanded changes that included Smith's release.

Newport eventually made five trips to the settlement, "instrumental in the continuation of Jamestown," said Breese.

Some historians note that Smith had a level of respect for Newport, but the relationship between the two was complicated at best and likely deteriorated as time went on.

As leader of a struggling colony, Smith's first priority was ensuring his people's survival, while Newport wanted to make money and find the Northwest Passage. The way to do that in Newport's mind, was by appeasing the Indians, something Smith disagreed with, said Mike Lund, interpretive site supervisor for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

"John Smith understood why Newport was (placating the Indians), and it probably worked to John Smith's advantage; he could always refer back to his 'father' Newport," in speaking to Chief Powhatan, Lund said.

That underlying, and mostly unrecorded, interaction between Newport and Smith has stirred Breese's imagination. That and the fact that Newport dealt with people such as Queen Elizabeth, Sir Frances Drake, King Philip and other figures open to interpretation, he said.

"These people were flawed and imperfect people but they were also remarkably heroic in many ways," Breese said. "They survived at a time that most of us would not."

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