The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

Overview

This drama opens with Thoreau in jail for refusing to pay taxes to a government conducting a war of aggression in Mexico, at midpoint shows Emerson visiting him, and ends on the morning of his release. Scenes portray his return from Harvard where he idolized Emerson, his attempt to establish a transcendentalist school, his career as a handyman and tutor in Emerson’s household, and his romance and his friendship with an illiterate cellmate. The end is a grotesque dream in which the characters take up guises in a mortal assault on Mexico.

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Details

  • Genre: Biography
  • Cast Attributes: Room for Extras

Authors

Jerome Lawrence

Jerome Lawrence (1915-2004) and Robert E. Lee collaborated for more than fifty years and were among the most prolific playwriting teams in the American theatre. In addition to their Pulitzer-nominated Inherit The Wind, their other major stage works include the comedy hit Aunt ...

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Robert E. Lee

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (1918-1994) collaborated for more than fifty years and were among the most prolific playwriting teams in the American theatre. In addition to their Pulitzer-nominated Inherit The Wind, their other major stage works include the comedy hit Aunt ...

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