The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: A Play in Two Acts

Written deliberately to protest the Viet Nam War, the two act play - originally published in 1970 - has been produced around the country (intentionally not on Broadway) under the American Playwrights Theatre. Witty, touching, and provocative, the play's appeal has remained universal. The actual incident inspired Thoreau's popular essay "Civil Disobedience." It opens with Thoreau in jail for refusing to pay taxes to a government conducting a war of aggression in Mexico and builds with flashbacks and dream-like effects that highlight the major themes of rebellion against authority and expressing one's individuality. The cast requires eight males, three females, and townspeople. The unit set suggests the jail and all of the places in Thoreau's mind. This Samuel French "acting edition" also has "Notes from the Playwrights," a description of the characters, the music and lyrics to "Blest Be The Tie That Binds (sung in the show),a prop plot, a costume plot, and the original ground plan.