Barry Mann, left, helps Deborah Strahorn dress up as the Statue of Liberty, during the premiere of "The Strange Case of Lady Liberty," in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Nov. 11. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Lady Liberty stood high on the stage, as her designer, Frederic Bartholdi, placed a torch in her left hand. A more contentious moment followed, when Bartholdi elected to remove the broken chains from her right hand and place them inconspicuously beneath her feet.

Portrayed by storytellers Deborah Strahorn and Barry Mann, respectively, the presentation in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Nov. 11 highlighted the long path to creating the Statue of Liberty and the even longer path it took, to make her original message of “freedom for all” heard.

“My image is everywhere. And every time you see me, what do you think of? European emigrants?” Strahorn, as Lady Liberty, questioned.

She and Mann noted that the statue was born from the minds of two French abolitionists — Edouard de Laboulaye, who is known as the “Father of the Statue of Liberty” for making the proposal to give the monument to the United States in 1865, and Bartholdi, whose original design for the statue was for it to prominently be holding broken chains, as a symbol of American freedom from oppression.

“I want people to understand the meaning of the whole story. I want people to be able to look at me and see themselves, their families, their freedom in me,” Strahorn said. “Every time you see the Statue of Liberty on a stamp, a coin, a movie or a commercial, think about immigrants, sure, but also think about the abolition, the emancipation and the people who were granted liberty from servitude.”

2025 Speak Story Series commission recipient Barry Mann speaks from the perspective of "The Father of the Statue of Liberty" Edouard de Laboulaye, in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Nov. 11. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

The performance of “The Strange Case of Lady Liberty” was noteworthy, as it was the final performance of the 13th season for the Speak Story Series and was also a new work.

“We went through a commission process at the end of our last season, where we had dozens of story proposals from storytellers all around the country submitted to us. There were two rounds of jurying. The proposal that was chosen received a commission prize,” said Speak Story Series founder Adam Booth.

Funded by Beth Brent with the Brick & Water Fund, the $2,000 prize was used to develop the proposal into an interactive performance, which would later experience its premiere on the Speak Story Series stage. This was the third such commission funded by Brent and premiered on the Speak stage over the last three years, with the 2023 commission recipient being Diane Macklin, whose story “Zora Unveiled: Echoes of a Cultural Muse” debuted that September, and the 2024 commission recipient being Dart, whose story “Queerified Love Like Salt Tales” debuted that November.

After seeing the performance of “The Strange Case of Lady Liberty,” Booth could not help but reflect on its timely message and implications in relation to current events.

“I think that we have witnessed something remarkable here tonight,” Booth said.

2025 Speak Story Series commission recipient Deborah Strahorn, center, speaks with two audience members after the show in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Nov. 11. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

He added that the commissioned work has already caught the eyes of other storytelling organizations across the country, which have booked upcoming performances of the story by Strahorn and Mann.

To learn more or purchase season 14 tickets, visit https://www.speakstoryseries.com/.