Florida's State Play, Cross and Sword, debuted 60 years ago in 1965. This performance took place in 1967. | Jacksonville Public Library
Published on June 26, 2025 at 5:28 pm
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In 1565, Spanish Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded the city that became St. Augustine, typically referred to as the nation’s oldest city.
And 400 years after that — now 60 years ago — it was opening night for the play Cross and Sword, a dramatization of the events that led to the city’s tumultuous early days.
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Cross and Sword debuted June 27, 1965, and became a staple at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, running every summer for more than 30 years. Florida lawmakers even acknowledged Cross and Sword as the Official State Play in the 1970s.
While a production hasn’t been staged in decades, memories of the play live on.
Paul Williamson worked at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in the 1990s, but before then, he played a role with a small speaking part and various extras during performances of Cross and Sword in 1974 and 1975.
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He remembers the time fondly.
“I was 20 years old, new to St. Augustine. I was going to go to Flagler College in the fall,” Williamson tells Jacksonville Today. “For me, it was a great summer experience.”
But even more than the show itself, Williamson is thankful for what occurred because of it.
It was the desire for a place to perform Cross and Sword among the natural environment of the play’s St. Augustine setting that led to the state agreeing to lease land in Anastasia State Park for the construction of an amphitheatre.
Without Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paul Green’s musical drama about St. Augustine’s founding, the popular venue might not be there today.
Top center: A group of actors playing Native Americans gathers around a totem. | Florida Memory Project
Top right: The audience watches a performance of Cross and Sword in 1966. | Florida Memory Project
Bottom left: A photo captured during a Cross and Sword performance in 1967. | Jacksonville Public Library
Bottom right: This actor was cast as a Native American chief for a performance of Cross and Sword. | Florida Memory Project
These days, Williamson thinks a revival isn’t likely to happen, or even really necessary.
Williamson says he doesn’t think the theatrical extravagance of the 1960s and ’70s is how effective stories are told these days.
“The history of St. Augustine is being told today in a lot of different ways,” he says. “You can’t miss it if you come to St. Augustine. But an outdoor nightly pageant like that it’s just not the same.”
So the next time you catch a show at The Amp or attend the weekly farmers market, you can thank the people behind 1965’s Cross and Sword for the role they played.
You can read more of Williamson’s recollections about Cross and Sword on his blog, My New Walden.
