PORTLAND, Maine — On the first day of June in 1950, Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith was stepping aboard the Capitol subway when she ran into a fellow Republican, Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin.
“Margaret, you look very serious,” he said. “Are you going to make a speech?”
Her response was terse. “Yes—and you will not like it.”
Later that day, Smith delivered what has come to be known as her Declaration of Conscience speech, a measured but stinging rebuke of McCarthy and his reckless anti-Communist accusations. It came at a time when virtually no other Republican was willing to speak out against him.
“The nation sorely needs a Republican victory,” she said. “But I do not want to see the Republican party ride to victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear.”
Portland Stage Company is now presenting “Conscience,” a drama based on the speech and its impact.
“This play is about Margaret Chase Smith and the courage it takes to speak truth to power,” says director Lisa DiFranza.
In our sharply divided times, people might not be inclined to spend a night at the theatre immersed in politics. DiFranza says that should not be a concern.
“It’s entertaining,” she says. “The play is entertaining, partly because it’s the story of four human beings. It’s an evening that’s just really compelling.”