From the frigid winter of 1777-78, when a weary and tattered army took refuge at Valley Forge, to the hot Philadelphia summer of 1787, when the founders set out to write a constitution, the beginnings of America have been filled with fascinating characters and events.

The men and women who helped found this country were, fortunately for us, truly amazing people. Unfortunately, we tend to think of them as icons in powdered wigs, not real, blood-and-guts people.

I was reminded of all of that last week when I took a bus trip to Philadelphia with the Lancaster County Historical Society and with cast members from the Fulton’s upcoming show, “Lightning Rod,” which opens April 27.

The show, written by Tim Slover (who was along for the trip), is about Ben Franklin and his difficult relationship with his son, William, who became the governor of New Jersey and remained loyal to the British during the Revolution.

Our trip took us to the American Philosophical Society, which Franklin founded, and then to the National Constitution Center to see “Ben Franklin: In Search of a Better World,” which runs through the end of the month.

No less than the curator of the exhibit, Page Talbott, showed us around as a favor to the historical society’s director, Tom Ryan, who has worked with her in the past.

The exhibit features a number of amazing documents for which Franklin was partially responsible, including a first copy of the Declaration of Independence and Franklin’s own copy of the Constitution, with his handwriting in the margins.

We got to see his furniture, some of his scientific equipment, even a pair of his glasses. And there are a number of original portraits of wily old Ben.

It’s an overwhelming exhibit and an interesting one too, but it can’t do the one thing our founding fathers really need: It can’t turn Ben Franklin into a living, breathing human being.

That’s why I am looking forward to Slover’s play.

He was able to turn Alexander Hamilton, the guy on the 10-dollar bill, into a complex and fascinating man in his marvelous play “Treasure,” in 2004.

I wish Hollywood were as interested in these men and women as I am. I want to see dramatic stories about the risks they took in declaring independence and the tragedies they endured during the war.

I want to see the fights they had about how to frame the Constitution during that long hot summer in Philadelphia. Tempers flared, people yelled and insulted each other. It was a wonderfully dramatic time. Heck, it would make a great movie, a great play, a great mini-series.

Our country stands today because of the founding documents we got to see at the Constitution Center. We study them in school and quote famous lines such as “We the people” and “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

What we forget are the people behind the documents. People with egos, humor, insecurities and dark moments of the soul.

It’s not their flaws I want to see, it’s their humanity. And while I always have loved museums and felt a little woozy from awe when I saw Ben Franklin’s copy of the Constitution with his notes in the margins, I can’t wait to see him on stage yelling and laughing and being a regular guy as he helped found a country.

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Jane Holahan is a New Era staff writer. Her column appears every other Wednesday.

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