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The Board of Directors of The Thornton Wilder Society in cooperation with The Wilder Family & The Monadnock Center for History and Culture welcome you to
The Third International Thornton Wilder Conference Peterborough, New Hampshire July 12-14, 2018
Thornton Wilder had a deep connection to Peterborough, where he worked on an array of projects during nine residences at MacDowell Colony between 1924 and 1953. Here, in addition to his work on the creation of Our Town, he wrote parts of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, launched The Skin of Our Teeth, and began writing his celebrated one-act play The Long Christmas Dinner. In 1960 he received the inaugural Edward MacDowell Medal, an award that has since been given to many of the world’s most notable artists in all media.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
he onferen e is s onsored by The Thornton Wilder Society in oo eration with The Wilder Family.
a son . ryer a an ilder abriel athan President ar er ohn are le o los i hael reenwald ohn ahr dith . allett rene ewis erryl all ist mily ann a son . ryer in oln on le onald ar lies ary n lish atthew a ire a id llo h in oln on le abriel athan ose h oa h ra y esser dyta . owi a ewell hom son i helle tahl ianna i ens am aterston te hen . o ewi san . homas a an ilder Literary Executor an y n e osey tr b Manager . . lat hy manda oods Special Projects ary n lish i hael ar er . ynn o s te e in hell hristo her heatley n memoriam
The Thornton Wilder Society has the twofold r ose of s ortin efforts that e and the literary le a y of hornton ilder and of en o ra in ro e ts whi h em hasi e the timeless im ortan e of literat re and drama to world lt re.
The Wilder Family elebrates hornton ilder as an international laywri ht and no elist. hro h artnershi s and ollaborations with a ents blishers and ra titioners thro ho t the world the family see s to introduce Wilder’s body of work to new a dien es en o ra e s bsidiary wor s based on his blished and n blished re ord and s ort tea hin and s holarshi in hornton ilder and his family.
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J. D. McClatchy 1945-2018
any of us first et c latc y in t at oly lace one i t e ect to encounter i in rint in t e New York Times. To be precise: occasioned by the Centenary of Thornton Wilder’s birth, Sandy (as we quickly learned to call him) penned a “Bookend” tribute to Wilder in the April 13, 1997, Book Review titled “Wilder and the Marvels of the Heart.” Spritely, deeply informed and not wit out e otion andy oet and true Man of Letters, saluted a fellow writer he saw as “essentially a moralist,” an artist who “took the given and raised it to t e i er le el of reflection nd e did it t e ard way by tellin t e trut ”
It bordered on miraculous that Sandy in only this world’s short 24 our day so e ortion of w ic is su osed to be de oted to slee ana ed daily to return one calls o en is re arkable lack ook olunteer t e internationally acclai ed i idd for s ecial desi n ser ices and wield is en w en is interests and alues coincided wit ublic need o it was t at c latc y soon found i self resident of t e fled lin ornton Wilder ociety ad isin on ow best to et si of se en Wilder no els back in rint editin t e t ree volume Library of America edition of Wilder’s works and arran in a a y o e for t e ornton Wilder ri e in ranslation at t e erican cade y of rts and etters—to start a lon list of ornton Wilder related deeds all directly or indirectly benefittin e ornton Wilder ociety nd t en t ere is t e Our Town o era Wit a dee and a ro riate bow to ed ore for a a ical score t e key to t e work are t e words t at only a oet w o understood Wilder so well and so dee ly could craft
andy c latc y was t e co lete artist and a beautiful friend We cannot el but iss i in a s ecial way w ile full of ratitude and wonder for t e ifts fro is eart t at e as left us
a an Wilder
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SCHEDULE
Wednesday, July 11
Opening Night Reception at Keene State College 6:00-8:00 p.m. Featuring award-winning playwright and actor David Greenspan, performing an excerpt from his recent critically acclaimed adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
Keene State College | Mountain View Room, 3rd Floor of the Student Center 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03435 (603) 801-2262 Campus map: https://www.keene.edu/campus/maps/college/ Transportation between Keene and Peterborough will be available. Parking available at 24 Madison Street.
All Wilder Conference sessions will be held at The Monadnock Center 19 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH 03458 | (603) 924-3235
Thursday, July 12
Tracy Messer and John Franklin: “Our Town Then and Now I” 8:45-9:00 a.m.
Session 1: Life of Wilder 9:00-10:00 a.m. Chair: Jackson R. Bryer, University of Maryland Sarah B. Dorsey, University of North Carolina, Greensboro: “Louise Talma and Thornton Wilder: A Match Made at MacDowell” Sergei Troubetzkoy, Independent Scholar: “Dorothy and Professor Wilder: From University of Chicago Student to Lifelong Friend” Ann Caldwell, Independent Scholar: “Wilder in the West”
Break 10:00-10:15 a.m.
Session 2: Our Town I 10:15-11:15 a.m. Chair: Park Bucker, University of South Carolina, Sumter Stuart J. Hecht, Boston College: “Celebrating Our Town at 50: My Post-Modern Production…That Worked!” Al Dabiri, University of Missouri: “New Faces in Our Town: Building Community Through Participatory Theatre” Jamall Calloway, Brown University: “‘That’s What It Was to Be Alive’: The Significance of Seconds in Thornton Wilder’s Theology” 5
Session 3: The Novels 11:15-12:15 p.m. Chair: Susan D. Thomas, Independent Scholar Andrew Bolt, ort Hays State niversity: “You, Me, and God: An Address to the Reader in The Bridge of San Luis Rey” Shoshana Greenberg, Independent Scholar: “New Audiences: Bringing Thornton Wilder Into New Spaces” Silas Jones, The College of ew ersey: “George Brush as an American Marxist in Heaven’s My Destination”
Lunch Break 12:15-2:00 p.m.
Session 4: A Report from the Wilder Collection at Yale’s Beinecke Library 2:00-3:00 p.m. Melissa Barton, Curator, rose rama, ale Collection of American Literature Monika Lehman, ro ect Archivist for the Wilder amily apers
Break 3:00-3:15 p.m.
Session 5: The Skin of Our Teeth 3:15-4:15 p.m. Chair: Matthew Maguire, ordham niversity Park Bucker, niversity of South Carolina, Sumter: “The Call of Cain: The Thematic and Structural Relationship Between Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth and Albee’s A Delicate Balance” Stephen J. Rojcewicz, Independent Scholar: “George Antrobus: Genius in a Name” Bonnie Georgette Hamlett, Salem College: “The Evolution of Thornton Wilder’s Stage Manager: Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth”
Session 6: Wilder as Scholar 4:15-5:15 p.m. Chair: Edyta K. Oczkowicz, Salem College Mary English, Montclair State niversity: “Wilder on Greek Tragedy” Ronald J. Quirk, uinnipiac niversity: “Thornton Wilder’s Study of Lope de Vega: New Materials” Joseph P. Cermatori, Skidmore College: “Wilder’s Anachronistic Modernism: Tradition and the Transfiguration of the Commonplace”
Dinner Break 5:30-8:00 p.m.
“Christmas in July” 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. A reading of The Long Christmas Dinner followed by a discussion of “Wilder and the One Act Play,” moderated by Carl Forsman, founding Artistic irector of the een Company and former dean of the niversity of orth Carolina School of the Arts School of rama.
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Friday, July 13
Tracy Messer and John Franklin: “Our Town Then and Now II” 8:45-9:00 a.m.
Session 7: Lesser-known Wilder 9:00-10:00 a.m. Chair: Terryl Hallquist, Vanderbilt University Lincoln Konkle, The College of New Jersey: “Rivers Under the Earth: Wilder’s Psychoanalytic Primer for the Stage” Edyta K. Oczkowicz, Salem College: “Young Wilder’s Journals: The Case of Writing The Acolyte” Thierry Dubost, Université de Caen Normandie: “In Signing Not to Sign: A Budding Playwright at Work on A Doll’s House”
Break 10:00-10:15 a.m.
Session 8: Our Town II 10:15-11:15 a.m. Chair: Gabriel Nathan, Independent Scholar Nancy Bunge, Michigan State University: “Friedrich Nietzsche Explains Why Our Town Works.” Jan Balakian, Kean University: “Who’s Depressed in Our Town?” Howard R. Wolf, SUNY, Buffalo: “The Concept of ‘Home’ in Our Town, Homecoming, and Other Plays”
Session 9: Special Session: “Whither Wilder?” 11:15-12:30 p.m. A discussion of some of the questions that bedevil Wilder on page and stage: Where does Wilder fit in? Does it matter? Chair: Tappan Wilder, The Wilder Family Christopher Benfey, Mt. Holyoke College Carl Forsman, North Carolina School of the Arts David Greenspan, New York City-based actor & playwright
Special Session: The State of the Wilder World (Lunch will be provided) 12:30-1:30 p.m. Barbara Hogenson, Literary Agent for the Wilder Estate David Kimple, Samuel French Rosey Strub, Manager, The Wilder Family, LLC Abbie Van Nostrand, Samuel French
Tours 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Highlights include a visit to Wilder’s studio at the MacDowell Colony, the cemetery that inspired Act Three of Our Town, and a guided walking tour of Wilder-related sites in Peterborough.
Membership meeting, Thornton Wilder Society 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
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Dinner Break 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Peterborough Players, The Skin of Our Teeth 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH 03458; phone: (603) 924-7585 (Round-trip transportation between Peterborough and Keene and the theatre will be provided.)
Saturday, July 14
Tracy Messer and John Franklin: “Our Town Then and Now III” 8:45-9:00 a.m.
Session 10: Teaching Our Town 9:00-10:00 a.m. Chair: Lincoln Konkle, The College of New Jersey David Ruis Fisher, Baker University: “An American Town: Grover’s Corners in the 21st-Century Classroom” Patrick Ganz, Portsmouth High School: “Teaching Our Town in a New Hampshire High School” Ashley Raven, Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School: “Our Town in the Middle School Classroom”
Break 10:00-10:15 a.m.
Session 11: Novels II 10:15-11:15 a.m. Chair: Sarah Littlefield, Salve Regina University Lewis Livesay, St. Peter’s University: “Reflexivity in Wilder’s Theophilus North” Elizabeth Manwell, Kalamazoo College: “Teaching The Ides of March in the 21st Century” Emily Thompson, The College of New Jersey: “Wilder’s Brother Juniper: Tragic Hero or Merely a Tragic Life?”
Session 12: Wilder’s Film, Farce, and One Acts 11:15-12:30 p.m. Chair: Rosey Strub, The Wilder Family, LLC Danny Alexander, Johnson County Community College: “Shadows of Doubt: Thornton Wilder and the Creation of Alfred Hitchcock’s American Gothic” Lloyd Sy, University of Virginia: “The Matchmaker and Thornton Wilder’s Notion of the Farce” Jacob Gallagher-Ross, University of Toronto: “Brightness Is Seeing in a New Way: Thornton Wilder, John Dewey, Experience, and The Roots of the American Avant-Garde”
Lunch Break 12:30-2:00 p.m.
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Session : hornton Wilder eaches irectin : : p m he eda o ical Windfall of The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays Based on the “perfect” challenges they offer, Suffolk ni ersity professor of heatre Wesley Sa ick has for many years used e n e a e e a e s an e ays as a resource for final pro ects in his irecting One course Suffolk students ane arper, ake Mari o, Ali Maynard, Micaleen Rodgers, and alumnus Ryan Began will present five “three minute plays for three persons,” as Wilder called them (M a an e ay e a , Has ns e e My e van , en a s, e e, and anny , and professor Savick, who is assisted by Ryan Began, will offer a brief talk on the vibrant, concise, and expansive directorial imagination contained in these brilliant short plays
Break : : p m
Session 4: Adaptin Wilder : 4: p m Chair: ianna ickens, niversity of Naples, ederico II Sunny nable, The Garden Players: “From Playlet to Pocket Opera” erryl all uist, Vanderbilt niversity: “‘It Kept Me in Martinis’: Reflections on a Musical Adaptation of n for Live TV” Jill Scharff, Independent Scholar: “ e s , the Play”
Session : “Acting Wilder”: rofessional Actors in a Lon erm Relationship ith Wilder 4: : p m Chair: Laurie cCants, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble James c enamin, played George Gibbs times in David Cromer’s production of n Wendy Rich Stetson played Emily Webb in the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble production of n, and in played Mrs Webb at Actors Theatre of Louisville a id reenspan, adapted and performed in e e an s ey at Two River Theatre in
Closin Ban uet : : p m Selected readin s from Master Wilder and The Cabala Jim nable s creative adaptation of Wilder’s e a a a imagines Thornton Wilder s artistic process as he struggled to complete his first novel while teaching and running a student house at Lawrenceville Prep School is students and his visiting parents become the characters in e a a a and Wilder confronts his own identity as he actively works towards finding his original voice as a writer
resentation of the Wilder ri e to onald ar ulies
Acceptance by onald ar ulies
Closin Remarks by Society resident Jackson R Bryer
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CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
nn Ale nder is professor of nglish at ohnson County Community College in Overland Park At Oklahoma tate niversity he studied Film as Literature under Leonard Leff, author of H an e n e has a thirty year career riting a out popular culture and is the author of ea ve a a e M s Ma y e, pu lished in y the niversity of Te as Press
n l i n is professor of nglish at Kean niversity he is the author of ea n e ays en y asse s e n and has contri uted articles and revie s on Wasserstein, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and ona ale to such pu lications as e M e na , a e an n e an en ay s, e s en n e a n H s a n y e a, e a e an n ennessee a s, na e an a a an ea e, M e n a a, and an ev e er film Everyone’s Depressed, distri uted y etfli , has een screened at the Long Island Film Festival, Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, Two Boots Theater, and at the Hoboken Film Society and won the Golden Bell Leadership A ard for cellence in ringing Mental ealth A areness to the Pu lic Through the Media and the e Century Writer A ard he is currently orking on a full length play, ea s e
eli rt n is Curator of Drama and Prose for the ale Collection of American Literature at the einecke Li rary, hich includes the papers of Thornton Wilder and of the Wilder Family he curated the ma or exhibition “Gather Out of Star Dust: The arlem Renaissance and The Beinecke Library” and wrote the companion volume a e a s Ha e ena ssan e . Her exhibit “Richard Wright’s a ve n on Stage and Screen” appeared as part of Beinecke’s spring 2018 exhibition, “The Art of Colla oration ” Melissa earned her PhD in nglish from the niversity of Chicago
n eg n is a freelance theater director ho recently served as the Associate Director of ne s a e s a e e s a e e s a e at uffolk niversity Other recent directing credits include e n e a a e n e and s n n e s Prior credits include a (Fiddlehead Theatre Company , e a e e a ( untington Theatre Company , a e e M s a , n e He s, y ne a , and y y n e a s n ( peak asy tage Company se an ve ( e Repertory Theatre Company , as ell as numerous operas ith the oston arly Music Festival
ri t er en e is Andre W Mellon Professor of nglish at Mount olyoke College A fre uent contri utor to e e ev e s and e e es ev e he served as the long time art critic for the online maga ine a e e is the author of seven ooks, including e H n s (Christian auss A ard and e a M n a n e ay lected a Fello of the American Academy of Arts and ciences in , he on the arold D Vursell Memorial A ard of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Andre lt is employed y Fort ays tate niversity in Kansas as an instructor in their usiness and leadership programs at Shenyang Normal University in the People’s Republic of China. He has an MA in English literature from Kansas tate niversity and an MFA in creative riting from eorge Mason niversity is papers on international education and leadership have appeared in the n e na na s ness a n na and the a na s ness a en e ev e and at conferences throughout Asia, the
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Middle East, and Europe. His contribution to the book e ders p s ro ess on o rds er on or e ders is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan.
c n r er is professor emeritus of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the editor of onvers ons orn on der and the coeditor of e e e ed e ers o orn on der orn on der e erspe ves, and orn on der n o or on o e ed Ess ys on s Dr nd on He is the president of the Thornton Wilder Society.
r c er is professor of English at the University of South Carolina Sumter, and is the author of “Wearing Down the ‘Edge of Boldness’: Wilder’s Evolving Values and Stagecraft in the Three Published Versions and Prompt Script of r o n” in orn on der e erspe ves and a collation of the play’s three published versions in eso r es or er n er ry dy. He has also published on F. Scott Fit gerald, Thomas Wolfe, oseph Heller, and Willa Cather. He has directed Wilder plays and is a member of the Board of irectors of the Thornton Wilder Society.
nc nge, professor emerita of English at Michigan State University, is the author or editor of six books, among them e d es ern ove er ry op s ro Huckleberry Finn o e resen , n e orne dy o e or on, onvers ons ren e or, s er ss essons ro e d n r ers, and nd n e ords onvers ons r ers o e , and over ninety five contributions to books and periodicals. She has held senior Fulbright lectureships in Germany, Belgium, and Austria.
Ann ld ell lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has a BA in English and Theatre from Texas Tech University and an MA in Speech Communication English from the University of North Texas. She taught English and rama classes for over twenty years in middle school, unior high school, and high school in enton and allas, Texas. She also worked as a consultant and sales representative for Harcourt Brace in the 1 80s and 1 0s.
ll ll is a presidential postdoctoral fellow and research associate in race and ethnicity at the Center of Race Ethnicity at Brown University. He has a BA from Tougaloo College, a Master’s of ivinity from ale University, a Masters of Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary, and a Ph in Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary. He has taught at Union Theological Seminary and at Columbia University. He has lectured and given papers widely, on such sub ects as ames Baldwin, Richard Wright, Martin Luther ing r., the Black Arts movement, W.E.B. ubois, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and ora Neale Hurston.
e er t ri is assistant professor of English at Skidmore College, where he speciali es in modern and contemporary drama. He is currently at work on a book about baro ue dialectics at work in European and American theater and philosophy from 18 to 1 .
d iri is a graduate student in Theatre at the University of Missouri. He has a master’s degree in English Literature from Shira University in ran. He has given papers on Thornton Wilder at the Second nternational Thornton Wilder Conference in Newport, Rhode sland, in 201 and at the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco in 201 . He has been the assistant director and assistant dramaturg for two productions at the University of Missouri and is the assistant editor for an issue of the Ed rd ee ev e .
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r r e , biographer and music librarian, has an advance contract from the University of llinois Press for her biography of composer, pianist, and pedagogue ouise Talma, “I am NOT a Woman Composer”: The Life and usic of Louise Talma 190 199 She is the head of the arold Schiffman usic ibrary at the University of orth Carolina, reensboro She has received a U C irst aculty ward , W S inda rnold Carlisle ward , and multiple U C international travel grants , , and esidencies at VCC , , , and , Wildacres and , and the Vermont Studio Center have facilitated wor on the Talma biography
ierr t is a professor at the University of Caen ormandie, rance e is the author of Struggle, Defeat or Rebirth: Eugene O’Neill’s Vision of Humanity and The lays of Thomas Kilroy e has co edited La emme Noire américaine, aspects d’une crise d’identité; George Bernard Shaw, un dramaturge engagé Du Dire à l Etre : tensions identitaires dans la littérature nord américaine, Regards sur l’intime en Irlande ; and usic and the Irish Imagination, and has edited L’Adaptation théâtrale en Irlande de 1970 à 2007 n English version of this boo , Drama Rein ented: Theatre Adaptation in Ireland 1970 to 2007 , was published by Peter ang in e recently coedited erspecti es on Contemporary Irish Theatre: opulating the Stage and has done translations of Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman and Thomas Kilroy’s The Secret all of Constance Wilde
r ngli is professor and deputy chair of the Classics and eneral umanities Department at ontclair State University and the e ecutive director of the Thornton Wilder Society She received her PhD at Boston University and her research interests include ree drama and the reinterpretation of these plays by contemporary merican playwrights She has also published e tensively on atin pedagogy She is the author, most recently, of A New Latin rimer with eorgia rby, which was published in by ford University Press
id i i er is an ad unct instructor of Theatre at Ba er University e has a B from Stephens College, an in Theatre from the University of issouri ansas City, and a PhD in Theatre from the University of ansas e has served as a dramaturg at the ansas epertory Theatre, at the University of ansas, at the University of issouri ansas City, at ansas City Community College, and at the id merica Theatre Conference e has e tensive performing e perience as an actor at d stra Theatre Ensemble, Coterie Theatre, Bo i Bantam Theatre, obo i Summer Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, and issouri epertory Theatre, among many others
rl r n is a professor of Drama at the University of orth Carolina School of the rts e was the founding Artistic Director of New York’s Keen Company, winner of Drama Desk and Obie Awards for e cellence He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Director for his work on Keen Company’s revival of The Voice of the Turtle, which transferred to an e tended run off Broadway is direction of the American premiere of Conor McPherson’s The Good Thief earned an OBIE Award for star Brian d’Arcy James and Drama Des and uter Critics Circle nominations for Best Solo Performance e also directed een Company’s production of Thornton Wilder’s The Happy ourney Drama Des nomination, utstanding evival ther ew or wor includes Lo e Child at New World Stages and Primary Stages, Tina Howe’s new translations of Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano The Lesson for the tlantic Theater Company, and Sin by ichael urphy for The ew roup Drama Des nominee, Best ew Play Best ctor bie ward Winner, utstanding Production e spent three summers as the rtistic Director of the Dorset Theatre estival in Vermont, and his regional wor includes errimac epertory Theatre, The solo, and ong Wharf e has 13
also taught at SM , NY Tisch, and lorida State Asolo He has a BA from Middlebury College and an M A from the ni ersity of Minnesota
c ll g er is assistant professor of English and Drama at the ni ersity of Toronto Mississauga and a graduate faculty member at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies He is the author of the recently published Theaters of the E eryday, which includes a chapter on Thornton Wilder’s early plays. His article “Mediating the Method” (Theatre Sur ey, 2015) won the American Theatre and Drama Society’s Vera Mowry Roberts Award for the year’s best article or book chapter He was for many years a fre uent contributor to the theater section of the Village Voice
tric n has been teaching English at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for years Although he has also en oyed teaching occasional undergraduate and graduate classes at colleges and uni ersities, he is most at home in classrooms with energetic and curious teenagers He was in high school himself when he first began what one of his English teachers described as his “unending obsession with Thornton Wilder.” This enthusiasm carries on unabated as Patrick continues contagiously to share his passion for Wilder with his young learners
n reen erg is a lyricist, librettist, playwright, singer, and theater ournalist She holds a BA from Barnard College and an M A from the raduate Musical Theatre Program at NY Her musicals include Days of Rage reading with New York Theatre Barn and A Story No One Knows with composer and book writer Hyeyoung Kim , and Lightening an Ars No a ANT est , with composer Jeffrey Dennis Smith Her ten minute parody play The Rapture of Our Teeth premiered at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts Primary Stages and was published on Indie Theatre Now Her songs ha e been performed in South Korea, at incoln Center, The York Theatre, TriArts Sharon Playhouse, the aurie Beechman, and the Duple Cabaret Theater––where she recently performed her cabaret show inding y Own Damn Way As a theater ournalist, she has contributed to American Theatre, The Inter al, Women and Hollywood, The Huffington ost, and Culturadar She was recently named a Sokoloff Arts ellow with Town Stages and Sokoloff Arts
id reen n appeared in his adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which premiered at Two i er Theater he has also appeared in his plays, Dead other, She Stoops to Comedy, Go Bac to Where ou Are, I’m Looking for Helen Twelvetrees, and his solo plays The Argument and The yopia performed solo renditions of Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude, Barry Conners’s The atsy, Gertrude Stein’s lecture lays, a program of two Stein lectures and a playlet Composition…Masterpieces...Identity and he has worked with many contemporary playwrights His works and performances ha e recei ed fi e Obie Awards and in he recei ed an Obie Award for Sustained Achie ement
err l ll i t is associate professor of Theatre at anderbilt ni ersity O er the past years she has directed more than 65 plays, including Thornton Wilder’s Our Town Her teaching areas of e pertise are directing, acting, and Shakespeare in the Theatre She is a member of the Michigan Hemingway Society, the Association of Theatre in Higher Education ATHE , and she ser es on the Board of the Thornton Wilder Society
nnie e rgette lett is a senior English ma or and minors in Creati e Writing at Salem College in North Carolina, where she is a recipient of the Jess Byrd Merit Scholarship and has been a counselor teacher at Clyde Elementary School pon graduation, she plans to pursue a graduate degree in either playwriting or English 14
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t rt ec t is associate professor of Theatre at Boston College. He is editor of the ew ngland T eatre o rnal and author of Transposing roadway ews ssimilation and t e merican M sical.
r r gen n is the owner of The Barbara Hogenson Agency in New or City. She wor ed for se eral years at the enerable ucy roll Agency, and in 1 she bought the company from Ms. roll. She represents clients in both publishing and theater. She holds Masters degrees in ibrary Science and ilm Studies. She began her career wor ing at the Museum of Modern Art in the ilm Archi es. or many years she conducted oral histories for the Columbia ni ersity Center for Oral History. She has ser ed se eral terms as a board member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, Inc.
il ne is a unior English Secondary Education ma or at The College of New ersey. n his spare time, he en oys seeing and performing in plays and musicals and watching reality tele ision shows.
id i le is director of licensing at Samuel rench, where he wor s to help theaters find appropriate shows for their seasons and oversees the company’s licensing efforts in its day to day operations. He is also a playwright and producer.
i n le has been de eloping Master ilder and T e Ca ala at the ni ersity of llinois rbana Champaign with a wor shop reading in 201 (directed by Henry Wishcamper) and a showcase production in 201 (directed by Marti Lyons). His adaptation experience includes reimagining George Bernard Shaw’s T e Man of estiny as estiny and t e Little Man for a 2016 production in Greenpoint, Broo lyn and, in 201 , for Target Margin Theatre and a new fable out of an old iddish story called Lenny r ce and T e T ree ifts, starring Nathan Darrow. His other plays ha e been produced at MCC Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Actor s E press in Atlanta, Soho Rep, New ersey Rep, and arious other regional and uni ersity theatres. His plays pain, reen Man, and altim an es are published in an acting edition collection by Samuel rench as T e Imaginary lays y im na le. pain was included in Smith and raus s est ew lays . rince of ir was one of three finalists for the Terrence McNally New lay Award in 201 . T e Magic is children s opera with composer Sunny nable has seen fi e productions, including at the Monda i Center at C Da is. Other young audience plays are published by Samuel rench, Dramatic ublishing, and layscripts, nc. n addition to playwriting, he is also a singer songwriter, band leader, and writer of cultural articles for T e rooklyn ail and Ta let Maga ine.
nn n le is an ad unct assistant professor of music at ueens College and at a Guardia Community College and music director of The Church in the Gardens and of The Garden layers, a theatrical group for children. He has an undergraduate degree from California State ni ersity Sacramento, an MA in Composition from ueens College (C N ), and a HD in Music Composition from Stony Broo ni ersity. n 201 , his chamber opera eet oven in Love was performed at the National Opera Center. n 2016, his ymp ony o. “The Great Expanse” was commissioned and performed by the California outh Orchestra. The Brothers Knable’s opera for young audiences, T e Magic is , has been performed multiple times around the country. He has won three Best Composition awards from the esti al of American Music and the ron Composers Award, for which he wrote a four minute piece in fi e hours.
inc ln n le is professor of English at The College of New ersey and the emeritus e ecuti e director of the Thornton Wilder Society. He is the author of T ornton ilder and t e ritan arrative Tradition and coeditor
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of tephen n ent en t Essa s n s e an r s and Th rnt n er e erspe t es He is a member of the Board of irectors of the hornton ilder Society.
ni e n has been wor ing as a ro ect Archivist at the Beinec e Rare Boo and Manuscript Library of ale niversity since ctober . She received her MLIS from San ose State niversity. She also holds an MA in nglish Literature from San rancisco State niversity and a BA in nglish Literature from the niversity of alifornia, Irvine. Before coming to the Beinec e, at San ose State she wor ed in Special ollections and as a liaison for the design department. Moni a has also completed internships at Stanford niversity Special ollections, Hewlett ac ard Labs, and the Intel orporation.
r ittle ield is professor of nglish and former chair of the nglish epartment at Salve Regina niversity in ewport, Rhode Island. She has written essays and presented conference papers on ewport authors, most recently as eynote spea er for the Big Read, sponsored by the reservation Society of ewport ounty, and at the dith harton in lorence onference
e i i e has taught composition, literature, and business writing at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City for the past three decades. He has published on Arthur Miller, oseph onrad, and ran Kaf a.
rie c nt is an actor, director, playwright, and cofounder of Pennsylvania’s Bloomsburg Theatre nsemble (B ), an artist driven resident ensemble creating innovative wor with national, international, and local impact. B was named the utstanding heatre by the ational heatre onference. In , she was named an Actor of istinguished Achievement through a ox oundation Resident Actor ellowship, funded by the illiam va ox oundation and administered by heatre ommunications Group. She has served as president of the board of the national etwor of nsemble heaters.
e c en in played George Gibbs well over 700 times in David Cromer’s acclaimed production of r T n ( ). ther performances include roles in the Broadway revival of e an en, the ff Broadway production of Will Eno’s et n, Extre t es at illiamstown heatre estival, and a continuing role as “Donuts” in TV’s ran e s the e a .
tt e g ire is the director of the heatre rogram at ordham ollege at Lincoln enter and co director of the ordham rimary Stages M A in laywriting rogram. He is an alumnus of ew ramatists. He is currently writing an adaptation of Goethe’s a st art , commissioned by Mabou Mimes, to be directed by Sharon ogarty. His awards include an BI for acting and an BI for directing. He is a member of the Board of irectors of the hornton ilder Society.
li et n ell is professor of lassics at Kalama oo ollege, where she has taught for fourteen years. Her research focuses on Latin poetry ( atullus, ergil), classical reception (classical allusions in wor s as diverse as Beat poetry and Disney/Pixar’s ra e), and is committed “to teaching all kinds of students, and sharing with them as best I can not only what is wondrous and strange about the classical world, but how it continues to have an impact in the world they are growing into.”
n ld rg lie is an ad unct professor of nglish and heater Studies at ale niversity and the author of, among many others, the plays The e part ent, The an a n , ht nseen, e te t r es, nner th r en s, r n , h p re e n Enterta n ent, T e tan s t , ne s an hr st as, 16
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and The ntr se is newest play, n st, will be presented on July 0 at the Williamstown ) Theatre Festival’s summer Friday reading series. Among his awards are the Pulitzer Prize for nner th r en s, the merican cademy of rts and etters ward in iterature, the adge Evans Sidney ingsley ward for utstanding chievement in the Theatre, and the William nge ward for Distinguished chievement in the merican Theater. e has also written extensively for film and television. e wrote The ntr se while he was in residence at the acDowell Colony.
riel t n is a writer, editor, performer, and director he is also the editor in chief of e er ar es, an online publication featuring stories of mental health, empowerment, and change. or five years, he worked at ontgomery County Emergency Service CES), a non profit, crisis psychiatric hospital in orristown, Pennsylvania, first as an llied Therapist on the inpatient unit, and then as Development Specialist. e holds a Bachelor of rts degree in Theatre from uhlenberg College and a degree in Education from a Salle University. e is editor of The Th rnt n er et e s etter and a member of the Board of Directors of the Thornton Wilder Society.
d t c ic is associate professor of English at Salem College in Winston Salem, orth Carolina. She is coeditor of Th rnt n er n a rat n e te Essa s n s ra a an t n, has served as the editor of The Th rnt n er et e s etter, and her essay on Wilder’s The n e That Tr e the aters an ther a s appeared in Th rnt n er e erspe t es. She has also published interviews and essays in E The rna r the t the t Ethn terat re the n te tates and a ere The rna the ss at n ar ean en r ters an h ars She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Thornton Wilder Society.
i nn ic en teaches English at the University of aples, ederico , and Suor rsola Benincasa University in Italy. She has published essays on American writers in Italy, including “The Early Critical Reception of Thornton Wilder in Italy” in Th rnt n er e erspe t es She translated Wilder’s unfinished play, a ha an , into talian and was instrumental in its premiere at the aples Theater estival on June , 0 . She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Thornton Wilder Society.
n ld ir is professor emeritus of Spanish at uinnipiac University in amden, Connecticut. e has published six books and thirty articles on Spanish literature and romance language linguistics.
te en ce ic recently completed a P D in Comparative iterature at the University of aryland, College Park, with a dissertation on Thornton Wilder’s Americanization of the Greek and Roman classics. A retired psychiatrist and Distinguished ife ellow of the merican Psychiatric ssociation, he has published essays on the intersection of psychiatry and the humanities and on classical reception. e is a member of the Board of Directors of the Thornton Wilder Society.
We le ic is professor of Theatre at Suffolk University. e has served as rtistic Director of Theatre in ilwaukee, interim rtistic Director of the Drama eague of ew ork s Directors Pro ect, rtistic ssociate of Chicago s rganic Theatre, and guest director in residence at the D TS Subaru Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. e received the prestigious Bunka cho grant from the Japanese inistry of Culture which enabled him to study traditional Japanese theatre and music in Tokyo. e has directed or acted in over one hundred professional productions, almost all new works. e has written, co written, or adapted twenty six plays including a musical based on the P show ar Ta , adaptations of two novels by lan ightman, a full length opera based on the 17
life of iberace, and, most recently, ne state t state re state e state, a new musical inspired by Arlie ochschild s tran ers n The r n an . e is the Founding irector of The ational Theatre of Allston, an independent initiative established e clusively for Suffolk niversity students and alumni to transition into the professional oston theatre. e has taught acting, directing, theatre history, and dramatic theory at Suffolk University since 1999 and won Suffolk’s Outstanding Teacher Award. He received his BA from Dartmouth College and has graduate degrees from oston niversity, ar uette niversity, and orthwestern niversity.
ill ege c r , , is clinical professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown niversity, and a psychoanalyst in private practice in Chevy Chase, . She is cofounder of the International Psychotherapy Institute, founder of the Cosmos Theatre, and co author of “Doctor in the House Seat: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Theatre.”
Wend ic tet n played Emily Webb in the loomsburg Theatre Ensemble production of r T n, and in played rs. Webb at Actors Theatre of ouisville. She has also performed at untington Theatre Company, erkeley Repertory Theatre, ale Repertory, allas Theater Center, Geva, Portland Stage Company, Two River Theater, and the udson alley Shakespeare Festival. er roadway credits include t ne, n the ext r the rat r a , and ree an r all at incoln Center Theater .
e tr has worked with the Wilder Family C for over years, now as anager, helping to promote Thornton Wilder s works and oversee Wilder related pro ects and programs, including thorntonwilder.com. She also serves as anager for playwrights Paula ogel and en udwig. ver the past years, she has partnered with a range of organizations including Arena Stage, Ars ova, Intiman Theatre, s evorkian Center, SPF, Soho Rep, and ale aw on theater and film festival production, marketing, and development. She holds a FA in rama and Theatre Studies from the niversity of ent at Canterbury, , and an FA in Theater anagement from the ale School of rama.
l d Ali is a first year Ph student in English at the niversity of irginia, where he studies late nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature and Asian American literature. e graduated from rown niversity in with a A in English and Computer Science.
n , known as Puckie, graduated with a A in Greek from Wellesley College, earned an A and Ph in Comparative iterature from C erkeley, and was a ellon post doctoral Fellow at Stanford. She taught for years and, during the s, was one of the founding faculty of San Francisco niversity igh School. She was the founding e ecutive director of the Thornton Wilder Society.
il n completed her undergraduate degree at The College of ew ersey in ay . In addition to ma oring in athematics, she also created a self designed ma or in iterature and Performing Arts, which combined literature, theatre, and music studies. The ma or also focused on developing strategies to encourage middle and high school students to bring the written works they read in English classes to life by incorporating different elements of performance. Emily will be attending Rutgers University in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in secondary education.
ergei r et is a graduate of irginia Commonwealth niversity and has participated in multiple study programs across the .S. and abroad dealing with the arts and humanities. e recently retired from a long career in tourism marketing for various communities in irginia. e has lectured across the country on a wide 18
ȁǤ Ǥ variety of sub ects ranging from history early films historic preservation and the decorative arts. He serves on numerous non profit boards and is the current president of The Blue Ridge Parkway Association.
A ie n tr nd is director of corporate communications at Samuel rench where she has worked for thirty years. In that capacity, she oversees the company’s publicity and client relationships ranging from emerging writers to well established playwrights composers and lyricists. Among her most recogni ed clients are the estates of oel oward Agatha hristie Thornton ilder and August ilson. She serves on the boards of ew Dramatists Educational Theatre oundation advisory and the Darien Arts enter and is a member of the Outer ritics ircle.
n Wilder has served as his uncle’s literary executor since 1995. In addition to speaking widely about Thornton ilder he has contributed Afterwords and otes to acting and reading editions of his ma or works.
rd W l is professor emeritus of English and senior fellow at the State University of ew ork at Buffalo. His ma or book publications include r e the ather e r han n Generat ns The E at n a Tea her ar a a es ess ns n Ex e the novel r a a erena e and the short story collection The E at n r e He is also the author of three related one act plays with the collective title e at the En the a and two other one act plays Ex es tar ht and ne at the T p.
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THORNTON WILDER SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP
he hornton ilder ociety has the twofold purpose of supporting efforts which expand the literary legacy of hornton ilder and of encouraging pro ects which emphasi e the timeless importance of literature and drama to world culture. he hornton ilder ociety appeals to anyone who has an interest in the life and works of hornton ilder. he ociety is international in its scope, attracting ilder admirers, scholars, critics, educators, and theatrical professionals and amateurs from all over the world. he ociety, in short, is of interest to all who love ilder, his work, and his belief in the importance of art as a sustaining influence in the world. embership in the ilder ociety is open to everyone. embers receive the annual Thornton Wilder Society Newsletter that includes insightful and provocative articles and interviews about ilder s life and works, photographs, and previously unpublished material from the rich ilder archives. embers are kept up to date on publications, performances, and events around the country via two Wilder per year, and are invited to eci l e er nl cc i n . bove all, oining the ilder ociety is a way to show regard for this astonishing writer, and to stay in touch with other admirers of ilder here and abroad.
lease fill out this form and return to e rnt n Wilder ciet ary nglish xecutive irector of ontclair tate niversity epartment of lassics 1 ormal venue ontclair,
he ociety is a nonprofit organi ation. ontributions to the ociety are tax deductible to the extent provided by law and we thank you for them. I and non profit status number is 5 59 . nnual dues are . . ake checks payable to e rnt n Wilder ciet in the memo line. ame I wish to oin. y check is attached. I wish to give a membership as a gift he ociety is happy to handle these arrangements. lease provide instructions in an included letter. I would like to further support the ociety with a donation at this time. nclosed is my contribution of
referred ailing ddress hone mail address If you choose to provide it, your address will be added to a contact list, to a listserv. Institutional affiliation where applicable
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Street ro e T e ona no k enter or istor an lt re istor an or enter ona no k T e
eterboro N ttp ona no k enter or
PETERBOROUGH MAP PETERBOROUGH Sessions illSessions be el at
on eren e
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