The
Night Thoreau
Spent in Jail
by Jerome Lawrence
and Robert E. Lee
February 23, 8:00 p.m.
February 24, 2:00 & 8:00 p.m.
All Seats $15
J.P. Eliopulos Family
Theatre @
Lancaster Performing Arts Center
"The
State is not armed
with superior wit or honesty,
but with superior physical strength.
I was not born to be forced.
I will breathe after my own fashion.
Let us see who is strongest."
- Henry David Thoreau
WHO
WAS THOREAU?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) constantly challenged conventional wisdom
and eschewed conformity.
An abolitionist, early environmentalist and philosopher, he is best known
for his "Civil Disobedience" essay –
an argument for individual resistance
to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state – and
for his two-
year retreat to Walden Pond, detailed in his book, Walden.
Among his lasting
contributions were his writings on natural history, where
he anticipated the methods and findings of modern ecology and environmental
history. Thoreau’s philosophies of nonviolent resistance and the
individual as the source of power in society influenced later
figures such as Leo Tolstoy,
Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin
Luther King, Jr.
|
This drama opens in Massachusetts in 1846, when Henry David Thoreau spent
a night in jail for refusing to pay taxes to support a war he felt was unjust.
A series of lively and poignant scenes create a fascinating portrait of
this famous American writer and poet, showing a life of revolutionary individualism
and rebellion against authority. We see him return from Harvard where he
idolized Ralph Waldo Emerson, establish a transcendentalist school which
proved too revolutionary for the students' parents, fall in love, get a
job as a handyman and tutor with the Emerson household and befriend an illiterate
cellmate. Written by the authors of Inherit The Wind, Jerome Lawrence
and Robert E. Lee. Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
Please note this production includes strong language.
|
|
CAST
Henry Thoreau: Andrew Reinholdson
Waldo Emerson: David Wright
Lydian Emerson: Ann Wright
Mother Thoreau: Jan Jensen
John Thoreau/Voice of Lincoln: Justin Green
Ellen Sewell: Melodie Lyon
Deacon Ball/Voice of Priest: Joe Barnard
Bailey*: Darin Maddox
Williams: Aaron McDonald
Sam: Abram Pelayo
Townspeople: Marisol Acosta, Elisa Kepke, Dannye Milam,
Laura Squier**, Brandon Wienke
* The role of
Bailey was played by Auggie Cavanagh on Feb. 23
** Laura Squier is also the understudy for Lydian Emerson and
Mother Thoreau
STAFF
Director: Justin Green
Technical Director: Tony Cardona
Stage Manager: Leanne Green
Asst. Stage Manager: Liz Uhazy
Prop Mistress: Leanne Green
Dramatist: David Wright
Costumes provided
by Daisy's Costumes, David Wright and cast
SPECIAL THANKS
Joe Barnard, Chris Bostwick, Ken Davis, Elisa Kepke, Nina Moskol, Andrew
Reinholdson, Dale West, David Wright
THANK YOU TO THESE
GENEROUS DONORS
AV Unitarian Universalist Fellowship,
John and Barbara Blancett, The Graphic Experience, Leaky
Garage Productions, MousePrints Publishing
|
Watch
AV Today on Time Warner Cable channel 3 Wednesday, February 21 at 11:00
a.m. for an interview with the stage manager, Leanne Green.
After
the show, purchase your copy of Aldous Huxley Slept Here, an anthology
of stories and poems by Antelope Valley writers. 45% of the proceeds will
benefit Hotfoot!
|
|