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Essay Competition on
Thornton Wilder’s novel, The Ides of March.
For students reading the writings of Julius Caesar
in Advanced Placement Latin and other secondary school Latin coursesTappan Wilder, nephew and literary executor of the works by the distinguished American playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), has observed that even before the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, his uncle Thornton Wilder was fascinated by questions on the nature of moral authority and leadership. As an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Air Force in North Africa and Italy, Thornton Wilder witnessed up close the dark chapters of history brought about by Mussolini and Hitler. In 1948, three years after the Second World War had ended, former Lieutenant Colonel Wilder poured his thoughts about statecraft and virtue into The Ides of March, a novel set in late republican Rome, starring Julius Caesar and co-starring Cleopatra, Catullus and Clodia, among other colorful characters of the time.
In recognition of Thornton Wilder’s celebrated novel about Julius Caesar as a political leader, we invite Advanced Placement and other secondary school students reading the writings of Caesar in Latin to participate in an essay competition based on The Ides of March. A distinguished panel of Latin scholars and teachers, Roman historians, and specialists in Wilder’s writings will judge the essays, and announce the winners by April 21, 2016—Rome’s birthday. Student authors of prize-winning essays and their Latin teachers will be awarded gift certificates from HarperCollins, publisher of Wilder’s The Ides of March (redeemable in books only).
Contest Prizes:
For the student participants:
1st Prize: 10 paperbacks (~$150)
2nd Prize: 7 paperbacks (~$105)
3rd Prize: 5 paperbacks (~$75)
Books to be selected from the Harper Perennial Modern Classics list.For the teachers of the winning students:
5 paperbacks (~$75)
Books to be selected from the Harper Perennial Modern Classics list.
All participants will receive a special certificate from the Thornton Wilder Society and the Wilder family, and winning essays will be posted on the Society’s website.We ask that students answer the following three questions in their essays and support their thesis with quotes from the novel. Footnotes and a bibliography should be included when appropriate.
1) Does Wilder’s highly dramatic and bestselling “novel in letters” about Caesar’s last days still speak to readers today, and, if so, in what ways does the novel address contemporary concerns?
2) Does it transport us to another time and introduce us to timeless questions of how we live and rule?
3) Finally, how does this novel relate to Caesar’s own writings about his distinctive military experiences?Please submit essays—which should be typed, double-spaced and no more than 2000 words in length (including footnotes and bibliography)—as electronic attachments in PDF format by April 1, 2016, to Professor Judith P. Hallett, University of Maryland, College Park, at jeph@umd.edu.
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THE PECCADILLO THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS
A WILDER CHRISTMAS
2 RARELY SEEN ONE-ACT PLAYS BY THORNTON WILDER:
THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER & PULLMAN CAR HIAWATHA
Performances Begin December 3 at Theatre at St. Clement’s
This holiday season, the award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company will present A Wilder Christmas, an evening of two rarely seen Thornton Wilder one-acts: The Long Christmas Dinner and Pullman Car Hiawatha. Performances are set to begin December 3rd, with the Opening on Tuesday, December 8th at Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46 Street (between Ninth & Tenth Aves.)
The Long Christmas Dinner traverses 90 years in the life of an American family as they gather around the dining room table for a holiday celebration. As generations appear, have children, wither and depart, the patterns of behavior within this comically extended family are revealed as well as the essential values in every generation.
Pullman Car Hiawatha follows a diverse band of characters bound for Chicago during the 1930 holiday season. No ordinary train, this Pullman car allows us to eavesdrop on the thoughts and feelings of its many passengers, creating a cacophony of self-absorbed humanity. Notable for its use of the “Stage Manager” character several years before Our Town, conventional time is suspended in this free-wheeling comedy in which people of all ages, classes and backgrounds are brought together for one unforgettable train ride.
Under the direction of Obie Award-winner Dan Wackerman, the cast of A Wilder Christmas features James Beaman, Victoria Blankenship, Brad Fryman, Michael Sean McGuinness, Kristin Parker, John Pasha, Jeremy Russial, Gael Schaefer, Anna Marie Sell, Rafe Terrizzi, Barbra Wengerd, Giselle Wolf, Merissa Czyz, LaMar Giles, Lawanda Hopkins, and Barbara Salant.
Thornton Wilder was a legendary American playwright and novelist. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner for the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth as well as the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Wilder’s other plays include The Matchmaker and The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden. For Alfred Hitchcock, he penned the screenplay to the classic thriller Shadow of a Doubt. In 1968, Wilder received a U.S. National Book Award for his longest novel The Eighth Day.
Scenic and lighting design for A Wilder Christmas is by Harry Feiner, costume design by Marianne Custer, sound design by Quentin Chiappetta, and choreography by Shea Sullivan.
Founded in 1994, The Peccadillo Theater Company is devoted to the “lost classics” of the American theater – plays of obvious literary and theatrical merit which, for whatever reason, have fallen off the radar. Beginning with Eugene O’Neill, generally considered the starting point of modern American theater, Peccadillo concentrates on the era of the so-called well-made play, a period of sparkling wit and sophistication in comedy as well as deepening realism in the drama. It encompasses such diverse and little-known dramas as Clifford Odets’ Rocket to the Moon, William Inge’s A Loss of Roses, Elmer Rice’s Counsellor-at-Law, as well as the neglected plays of celebrated authors like Dorothy Parker and John O’Hara. Taken as a whole, this work represents nothing less than the American experience itself in all its contradictions and screwball energy. Peccadillo’s mission is to restore these buried gems to their rightful owner – the American theatergoer.
A Wilder Christmas will play a limited Off-Broadway engagement through
January 3rdJanuary 10th. The performance schedule is Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 pm, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, with matinees Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $25 and are available through www.ThePeccadillo.com or by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111.UPDATE 12/21/15: Performances extended through January 10th!
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In May 2016, The Thornton Wilder Society will once again take part in the American Literature Association Conference.
The Thornton Wilder Society invites proposals for a panel on Queer Readings of Thornton Wilder. As documented by recent biographies Thornton Wilder: A Life by Penelope Niven and Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward by Justin Spring, Thornton Wilder lived as a deeply-closeted gay man. Recent revelations of the author’s secret sexuality present new opportunities for Wilder scholarship in the field of Queer Studies. Possible approaches include Wilder’s depiction of “secret lives” or “lives separately led”; the author’s presentation of both traditional marriage and same-sex relationships (e.g., Barnaby and Cornelius in The Matchmaker); issues of gender in Wilder’s Stage Manager characters; characters as autobiographical surrogates for the author (e.g., Theophilus North, Dolly Levi, or Simon Stimson); and Wilder’s texts in conversation with gay authors (e.g., Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Lanford Wilson). Proposals on Wilder’s plays, novels, or other writings will be considered. Information about his works and available editions can be found on our Works page and our Bibliography page. We encourage graduate students as well as established scholars to submit 500-word proposals and C.V.s to Park Bucker at psbucke@uscsumter.edu by
January 4, 2016January 20, 2016.The 27th annual American Literature Association Conference will be held May 26-29, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit the American Literature Association Conference website.
Update: The proposal deadline has been extended until January 20, 2016.
Update: The proposal deadline has been extended until January 20, 2016.
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Our Town performed in “Our Town” of Hopkinton, NH as part of its Sestercentennial celebration. The play will be staged outdoors, following the continuum of Wilder’s drama… in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying, by gathering both cast and audience first at the Hopkinton Village Green, then traveling down Main Street for the wedding scene in front of St. Andrew’s Church and, finally, arriving in the Old Hopkinton Cemetery for the last act. In all ways, we expect a moving performance.
For complete details, please visit the Hopkinton Historical Society website.
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Thornton Wilder Conference tickets are now on sale! Your ticket guarantees you a spot in what will no doubt be the biggest Thornton Wilder gathering this year, coming June 11-13, 2015 to Newport, RI! The conference will feature more than 20 presentations, round table conversations, panel discussions, readings, and social events featuring leading academics, practitioners, and professionals from countries including France, China, Iran, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Join us for this exciting study of Thornton Wilder and his works!
The Second International Thornton Wilder Conference is sponsored by the Thornton Wilder Society.
Visit the Conference Hub on our website for tickets and additional information.
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George and Maggie Antrobus have been married for a mere 5,000 years. They have two perfect children, and a vamp for a maid. Just a typical American family living in a present-day New Jersey suburb, but also the first family of the human race, and they must survive the Ice Age, the Flood and War — all by the skin of their teeth.
As reported by BroadwayWorld.com, Douglas Morrisson Theatre’s “[…] production of The Skin of Our Teeth is directed by Artistic Director Susan E. Evans and features an impressive ensemble of Bay Area actors: Dale Albright as Mr. Antrobus, Cynthia Lagodzinski as Mrs. Antrobus, Lauren Hayes as Sabina, Alan Coyne as Henry, Wendy Wyatt-Mair as Gladys, Eve Tieck as The Fortune Teller, and Reg Clay, Caitlin Evenson, Laurie Gossett, Radhika Rao, Wayne Roadie and Jon Wat as the Ensemble. […]
“The 1943 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Best Drama, The Skin of Our Teeth is a timeless classic of the American stage, as wacky and moving today as it was over 70 years ago. […] The Skin of Our Teeth manages the near impossible feat of being an allegory about all of humanity and the boisterous chronicle of one family.”
For the complete article, visit BroadwayWorld.com’s website.
To purchase tickets, get theatre directions, and find additional information, please visit the Douglas Morrisson Theatre website.
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With mistaken identities, near-misses, and a wild romp through late 19th century New York, The Matchmaker proves that sometimes money can buy happiness.
The production’s director, Doug Wager, is Artistic Director at Temple University, and Associate Dean of the Division of Theater, Film, and Media Arts. For more than twenty years he worked with Arena Stage in Washington, DC and succeeded Zelda Fichandler as the Artistic Director from 1990-1998. During that time he staged the three major Wilder plays: Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker.
For more information, please visit the theater productions page on the Temple University website, and scroll down to their section on The Matchmaker.
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From Mexico’s National Public University to Mexico City’s Sergio Magaña Theater, this production has had an incredible journey.
In this one-act play, set in a Pullman car on a train traveling from New York to Chicago in December, 1930, conventional time is suspended, and the only true measures of existence are life and death. Pullman Car Hiawatha takes us on a metaphorical journey by train through the American landscape, a diverse band of travelers encapsulated in a Pullman car hurtle through time, space and a range of emotions.
As reported by thorntonwilder.com, the production began in May 2014 as part of a final exam project for an Artistic Creation Workshop (“Taller Integral de Creación Artística”) at the UNAM (Mexico’s National Public University). The actors study Dramatic Literature and Theater at the University and “found in Wilder’s ‘Hiawatha’ the opportunity to grow into the professional life in Mexico’s theater.” After a highly successful four-day run, their production was given an extended run in fall 2014, to give more individuals at the University the opportunity to attend.
Since then, their production has received one of the most important awards in the National University:”IX Premio Lech Hellwig-Górzynski a la creación escénica teatral 2014″
The company was recently invited to present Pullman Car Hiawatha in a professional Theatre in Mexico City. Abigail Sánchez writes, “Now in 2015 is our opportunity to leave the school behind, and give the Mexican audience the opportunity to watch a play by one of the most important playwrights in the history of the US and the Contemporary World.”
Production Information
Sergio Magaña Theater (Teatro Sergio Magaña)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 114,
Santa María La Ribera, Cuauhtémoc, 06400 Ciudad de México, D.F., MexicoFrom March 10 to March 26
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8:00pm.
$ 127 GENERAL
% 50 Students, teachers and INAPAM, with valid ID.For additional information, visit the production’s official Facebook page or its page on the Mexico City Theaters website. Please note that these pages are presented in Spanish. You may also view the Mexico City Theaters website in English.