Mrs. Packard

Beloit College students performed Mrs. Packard in April of 2023. Based on historical events, Mrs. Packard is the story of one woman’s struggle to confront the medical community and change the treatment of those with actual mental illness.

Summary

By Emily Mann
Directed by Amy L. Sarno
Neese Theatre

Synopsis

Elizabeth Packard was never a shrinking violet and her husband despises that about her. At his wit’s end, Pastor Theophilus Packard has his wife taken from her bath, nude and screaming, directly to an insane asylum. Pastor Packard doesn’t need any proof; it’s enough for him to claim she’s disruptive.

In 1861 Illinois, a woman’s sanity could be determined by her husband. Based on historical events, Mrs. Packard is the story of one woman’s struggle to confront the medical community and change the treatment of those with actual mental illness.