[Peace-discuss] Re: "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" -- probably Nov 7+8, Channing-Murray

[Stuart Levy]

Hey all,

Indeed Matthew DeMarco, the UofI student director of "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail",
would be glad of our support and will happily come speak to us if we like --
I imagine that could be either at an AWARE meeting, or an AWARE Presents subcommittee.

And, there's a tentative performance date and place -- maybe
not firm enough for publicity yet but we can see where it fits:

   The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
   November 7 and 8 (Fri & Sat)
   Channing-Murray Foundation

[This play is from Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, who also wrote
"Inherit the Wind".]

I'd love for AWARE to help promote this play.

----- Forwarded message from mdemar4 at illinois.edu -----

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:02:13 -0500 (CDT)
From: mdemar4 at illinois.edu
Subject: Re: "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail"
To: Stuart Levy <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu>

Thanks for getting in touch Stuart!  I think this would be great for AWARE.
"The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" focuses on the life of Henry David Thoreau,
especially the night spent in a Concord jail for tax resistance, which inspired
his "Civil Disobedience."  It is a call for activism over withdrawal.  Also, it
should be noted that this play involves an interaction between Thoreau and a
runaway slave at Walden pond, which inspires a combination between abolitionism
and anti-war activism, since the Mexican War sought to expand slave territory.

I'd also like to let you know that we are doing a minimalist interpretation of
the play--actors in all black, pantomimed props and no real set.  We're keeping
with the Thoreauvian maxim, "simplify, simplify, simplify!"

Performances are tentatively slated for November 7 and 8 at Channing-Murray.
I'd like to start promoting a week or two beforehand, for the most part.

That's all I can think of to tell you for now.  Feel free to hand out my e-mail
to any members with questions.  Also, let me know if you'd like me to stop by
at an upcoming meeting to elaborate, bounce ideas around or answer any
questions.

Thanks a lot,
Matthew DeMarco
mdemar4 at illinois.edu
(630) 544-9233