Legendary actor Dustin Hoffman (C), James Cromwell  (R) and Amy Ryan (L) act in a scene of "Better Angels" at the new $45 million Eli and Broad Stage at Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center on Sunday, August 24, 2008. In Wayne Peter Liebman’s, Better Angels, the year is 1863, just two years before the Civil War came to a close at the Appomattox Court House. Abraham Lincoln is in the White House, and of course every day is riddled with plights and horrors from the war. However, a widow comes to the White House with a petition for a hospital to be built in the North for wounded soldiers. While he feels that the widow appeals to his “better angels”, Lincoln knows the road will be long and difficult due to his Union generals being in opposition to a Northern hospital. With the war raging on and becoming more grotesque every day, Lincoln is forced to reconsider the situation when he hears of the horrors of The Battle of Chickamauga Creek where 35,000 men were killed and wounded. An inaugural gala featuring Barbara Cook is scheduled for September 20. For more information visit thebroadstage.com