George & Ruth, Songs and Letters of the Spanish Civil War

This play is a true story of passionate newlyweds separated by an ocean as they struggle against fascism in the late 1930s, George fighting in the Spanish Civil War and Ruth organizing antifascist youth in New York City. The script is derived from letters written between the lovers with honesty, humor, longing and compassion, interspersed with songs of the period in English, Spanish and German. Audiences are invited to join in, singing along with George and Ruth in the battle for democracy.

Praise for George & Ruth

This lovely, moving script deserves performances throughout the land. Based on actual letters and an entirely true story, it recalls a time of tragedy and heroism. And in a world with authoritarian strongmen grasping for power or achieving it on almost every continent, this story of Americans who opposed fascism more than eighty years ago has a vital echo for us today.
--Adam Hochschild, Spain in Our Hearts & King Leopold’s Ghost (National Book Critics Circle Award finalist)

Last Friday a packed audience heard excerpts from intelligent, funny and impassioned letters exchanged in the late thirties between George Watt, a volunteer fighter in the Spanish Civil War and his wife Ruth. Their words were augmented by the legendary songs of those who came from all over the world to stop fascism at the threshold of a looming world war. The power and emotional force of the words and music were rooted in unshakable belief in the need to fight, whatever the personal cost, the fascist threat embodied in Franco’s counterrevolution before it engulfed the world.
--Mark Solomon, Professor of History, Simmons College (Retired)

The George and Ruth Watt letters constitute the only documented exchange of love letters involving a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. George and Ruth dedicated their lives to fighting fascism and injustice. George Watt is a hero, and a well-known figure among the Lincoln Brigade and historians of the Spanish Civil War. Ruth Rosenthal Watt, a Hunter College alumnus, was a prominent antifascist activist who participated in demonstrations against fascism in the United States. The message of justice, freedom, and love present in their correspondence captivates the reader from start to finish.
--María Hernández-Ojeda, Hunter College-CUNY, Co-chair, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)

The Lincoln Brigaders remain among the great heroes of American and world history. This story will inspire generations to come!
--Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States