The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: A Play Review | The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

Greatness "transcends" beyond words | The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail | Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee

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	• The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee Bantam Classics, 1983 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A mind beyond bars

This play examines Henry David Thoreau, his philosophies, and some of the events in his life. During the Mexican American War, Thoreau refused at one point to pay his taxes. He felt that the war was unjust, and he didn't want his money supporting a government that he believed was doing unjust things. (He also believed that the war was not the will of the people, as President Polk had declared war without the support of Congress.)

The play, which takes place on a simple set that emphasizes the imagination of the audience (and the performers) for props/surroundings, also delves into Thoreau's love for nature and his views on sprituality. (The fact that the set is simple reflects another way that form follows content, as Thoreau encouraged people to turn away from materialism and simplify their lives.) The chief journey in the play is Thoreau's decision to return to the world, rather than remove himself from it.

Themes include individuality, the nature of spirituality, marching to one's own drummer (regardless of consequence), the belief that one person can make a difference, the idea of standing on principle/what's right, and the manifestation of the divine in nature and humanity (Transcendentalism).

It's a somewhat academic play, about ideas more than about plot (of which there is virtually none), but it reminds us that theatre can inform and instruct us as well as entertain us. Additionally, the subject matter of the play is very topical (public funds for stem cell research? or the war in Iraq?) and is sure to stimulate thought and discussion.

The authors of this play (two college professors) demanded that it not be produced on Broadway and, to my knowledge, it never has been. This, I may assume, was their own form of "disobedience," as they maintained that a few blocks in Manhattan shouldn't dictate what real theatre is to the rest of the nation. Despite their mandate, however, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail has been one of the most produced plays in America, enjoying wide circulation in regional theatres and especially on college campuses.

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The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: A Play Review

This play was very thoughtful and enjoyable, especially if you are able to visualize things while you read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Greatness "transcends" beyond words

THE NIGHT THOREAU SPENT IN JAIL describes thinker Henry David Thoreau short experience in jail after not paying his taxes. Employing flashbacks within flashbacks, playwrights Lawrence and Lee take on the task of describing Thoreau's life so far. Filled with witty remarks and humorous dialogue, this book transcends what I can say about it.

After having been assigned to read this book for my AP 11 English class, I started out first assignment: Read to page 50. To my surprise, once I got to page 50, I couldn't put it down. My teacher had warned us about this scenario. She said the book was cleverly hilarious and enjoyable. Naturally--it being an ASSIGNED book--I doubted her words.

When I got into the play, within the first few words of dialogue, I was laughing out loud. The writers, whose research was obviously accurate and concise, tickled me when Ralph Waldo Emerson asked "who" his umbrella was, making a reference to his supposed contraction of Alzheimer's disease. Thoreau's teachings of God and fields and notetaking were pleasing and enriching.

Not only was I thrilled by his paradoxical dialogue,

[In a nutshell...
Thoreau to a student: Why are you taking notes?
Student: So I can remember what you say.
Thoreau: But then it's the notebook that does the remembering, not you.
(She puts away her notebook)
Thoreau: Why have you stopped taking notes?
Student: Because you said to.
Thoreau: Why would you do what I say?]

but I also took away something from it, which is a common moral you would see in books and movies today: Do things for yourself, and pay no attention to what others say or think. Though the moral is a bit overused, Lee and Lawrence refresh it and make the lesson new placing it in the midst of witticism and transcendentalist teachings.

Now, the only thing left for me to do is write a thank you card to my teacher for treating us with this wonderful book.

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Thoreau and non-violent protest against the government

While Thoreau was living at Walden, then President James K. Polk declared war on Mexico without Congressional approval. To protest this and the government, Thoreau refused to pay his taxes and was sent to jail. This play fantasizes on what might have been going through Thoreau's mind as he spent the night in jail: reflecting on his childhood, the life and death of his brother, his idol Ralph Waldo Emerson, what lead him to his solitary life at Walden and the impetus for his refusal to pay the taxes. I enjoyed reading this very much as it gave some insight into the great thinker who influenced the likes of Gandhi with his non-violent form of protesting the government.

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An Enjoyable Night with Genius

Henry David Thoreau may be experiencing a sort of revival as of late. His treatise on civil disobidience is a hallmark of progressive action today. Upset that his government declared an unjust war, Thoreau refuses to pay taxes to show his digust, which lands him one lauded night in jail. Thus is the basis for this extremely inventive, timely play "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail".

Not just a night in jail, but a brave overview Thoreau's life ensues, showing snippets of his events, meetings, and philosophies that were so critical to the development of his transcendentalism. This isn't a dry biography, however. The authors weave a Thoreau that is a rich tapestry of thought and action. He is both endearing and complex, wise and unaware.

We enter the play with Henry in his cell, and begins to relive some important moments in his life. We meet Emerson and his wife, Henry's mother, and favorite brother John, as they inact with his memories and become alive themselves. The ebullience of John is obvious, which makes his passing much more severe. This play helps to maginify the brilliance of a brilliant man, while making him more human, more real.

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a great read, and will springboard your interests to study this amazing thinker.

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"If the law is of such nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law." In 1849, the young Henry David Thoreau, philosopher, poet, naturalist, penned these timeless words in his Civil Disobedience. Three years earlier Thoreau had refused to pay taxes to the government, which was engaged in the Mexican War. He condemned the war as unjust--a war never formally declared, begun without Congressional authorization, a savage and bloody war fought to assuage the United States' territorial ambitions. For his courageous and unprecedented act of protest, he was thrown in jail. Thoreau was a man of the future. Over the past century, his action has had worldwide repercussions. Tolstoy was influenced by his stand, and Gandhi based his passive resistance campaign on the words of the philosopher of Walden Pond. Now, Thoreau's action take on a new relevance. The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail is an essential work for today's world.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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