NEWS RELEASE
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University
www.las.iastate.edu
2-18-09
Contacts:
Jane Cox, ISU Theatre, (515) 294-2624 (jfcox@iastate.edu)
Steve Jones, Liberal Arts & Sciences Communications, (515) 294-0461 (jones@iastate.edu)
ISU Theatre opens 2009 spring season with ‘The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail’
AMES, Iowa – More than 150 years ago Henry David Thoreau simplified his life by moving to Walden Pond. The first ISU Theatre production of 2009 gives us an insight into the man who also went to jail by standing on his principles.
“The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” is on stage Feb. 27-28 and March 1, 6, 7 and 8 in Fisher Theater. The two-act play is based on the early life of Thoreau leading up to his night spent in a Concord, Mass., jail.
While Thoreau was living his solitary life at Walden Pond, President James K. Polk declared war on Mexico without Congressional approval. To protest this as well as his hatred of slavery, Thoreau refused to pay his taxes and was sent to jail. He spent only one night in jail because, to his dismay, someone paid his taxes, and he was released.
This play examines relationships, education and government from the perspective of a man who heard “a different drummer” and believed that one individual could make a difference.
“We see little bits of his life and we learn why he was like he was,” said director, Jane Cox, professor and program director of ISU Theatre. “We begin to understand him and understand the choices he made.”
Thoreau moved into a small, one-room cabin on Walden Pond in 1845 to get close to nature and live his life with the barest of essentials.
“His message was ‘simplify, simplify,’” Cox said. “It’s a message that’s very relevant even today because it speaks to people’s busy lives.”
The play is by Robert Edwin Lee and Jerome Lawrence. Like another of their dramas, “Inherit the Wind,” about the 1925 Scopes “monkey trial,” “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” allows audiences to come to their own conclusions about moral questions presented during the performance.
ISU student Don Watts plays the title role of Thoreau. Also, Jeff Mason is Thoreau’s friend Ralph Waldo Emerson and Kelly Teitsworth is Emerson’s wife Lydian.
“The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” is presented at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 and 28 and March 6 and 7, and also at 2 p.m. on Sundays March 1 and 8. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $7 for students and children and are available at the Iowa State Center Ticket office at 515-294-2479 and through TicketMaster.
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