CHARM by Kathleen Cahill. 'Strawberries' by David J. Bohnet, Under Study for Ralph Waldo Emerson/Nathaniel Hawthorne/Count O.

The date is March 1st. I enter the not-so-unfamiliar chapel theatre
for the first read thru with the entire cast. Executive Producer Keven
Myhre shakes my hand welcomes me in, I choose a seat next to a
familiar face, Understudy Heidi Hackney. The room is bustling with
people, Kathleen Cahill the playwright is here! An amazingly confident
stage manager; John Geertsen stands counting the minutes before
liftoff. There's Meg Gibson! You would have to be dead not be warmed
and charmed by her amazing energy. One by one I am introduced to these
amazingly creative working actors, artistic minds poise and ready to
begin this wonderful journey. I become incredibly overwhelmed at the
magnitude of this job I was undertaking. I should be more prepared...
Everyone here is so....professional! I look around, I begin to panic.
How am I not memorized???! I bet all the actors are off book, they've
had there scripts for months, I just got my copy!-- AND suddenly I am
passed a container.

And in this container some of the biggest juiciest strawberries I have
probably ever seen in my life stared back at me. I look up. Meg smiles
and introductions begin. Slowly we begin to reveal the incredible
journey CHARM has had; from work shopping in Orlando, to stage
readings here at SLAC, the addition of extra work weeks for the
rehearsal process, and everything right down to the inception of CHARM
right from the playwrights mouth. What do I do? How do I proceed??
This is not something that happens everyday. To be on the front lines
of such an amazing story and to delve into so many great characters
with artists, I have grown to respect and admire, is a once in a
lifetime opportunity. I am beaming with excitement.

I am a recently graduated acting student from the University of Utah.
I have done numerous College performances, even some professional work
here in Salt Lake. But this chance to understudy at a theater like
SLAC, to be exposed to the world of professional theatre with such
grace and positive cohesive creative energy is something I can only
dream my newly budding career will produce again. SLAC and this entire
process of CHARM was an amazing stepping stone in my career as an
actor and my process as an artist. I thank everyone right down to my
fellow understudies for there insight, conversations, thoughts and
creative drive. I know another first day table read equipped with
heavenly strawberries is unlikely, but wouldn't it be great?

Salt Lake Acting Company                       News ReleasePRESS CONTACT: CYNTHIA FLEMING. 801 363 7522. CYNTHIA@SALTLAKEACTINGCOMPANY.ORGDAISY BLAKE. 801 363 7522. DAISY@SALTLAKEACTINGCOMPANY.ORGFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.  SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CHARM BY KATHLEEN CAHILL DIRECTED BY MEG GIBSON. Salt Lake Acting Company is proud to present the world premiere of CHARM by Utah author Kathleen Cahill, directed by Meg Gibson, playing April 14 to May 9.  CHARM is set in the 1840s, and is about people who actually existed; a remarkable woman,Margaret Fuller, and her relationships with three of the great literary figures of her time-  Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The language of the play is rich. It’s also full of anachronisms: Margaret Fuller is a woman ahead of her time, and so she sometimes uses the language of our time, and dreams our dreams. In that sense, the play glides between worlds. It’s set in history, but takes place on another plane, weaving in and out of the past. Magically surreal and full of luscious language and unexpected surprise, CHARM invites us into its landscape and invites us dream about how we got from there to here. Though it’s no history play, CHARM is very much about history itself, whom it remembers, whom it forgets, and why. And it’s about American Transcendentalism, the belief in the freedom of the human spirit to transcend the confines of history and time.Writer Kathleen Cahill said: “The play is about cosmic justice- this woman’s right to be heard fairly and get her due. I hope audiences will be enchanted, amused, moved, briefly lifted out of their lives, and leave the theatre with a passionate desire to know more about Margaret Fuller. I hope audiences will think about how history can hide its heroes- how things change and stay the same.”

CHARM had its first reading in June 2008 at the University of Utah, New Play Workshop. In August 2008, there was a workshop at the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival in Seattle, followed by a reading at Lark Theatre Playwrights Week in New York in September 2008. SLAC had a reading of the play in October 2008, directed by Robin Wilks-Dunn. In January last year there was a reading at Orlando Shakespeare Playfest, and in November, a Workshop Production at Orlando Shakespeare Theater, also directed by Meg Gibson. In fall 2009, SLAC received a $27,000 grant from the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards for CHARM’s world premiere. In December there was a reading at the National New Play Network Showcase in Atlanta, directed by Patrick Flick, who also selected the play for Orlando Shakespeare Theater.

SLAC NOTESThe creative team for Charm will be: Set Design by Keven Myhre, Lighting Design by Jim Craig, Sound Design by Cynthia Kehr-Rees, Costume Design by Brenda Van Der Wiel and Dramaturgy by Sydney Cheek.DATE                                     Previews:         April 14 and 15, 2010                                                Opening:         April 16, 2010                                                Closing:           May 9, 2010 TIMES                                    Previews:         Wed & Thurs- 7:30 p.m.                                                Regular:           Wed & Thurs- 7:30 p.m.                                                                         Friday Opening- 7.30 p.m.Fri & Sat- 8:00 p.m.                                                                         Sun- 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 13th @ 7 p.m.- Free ZAPped Tuesday. Friday, April 16th @ 7:30 p.m.- Opening night celebration.Sunday, April 18th  @ 2 p.m.- Post play discussion following the matinee performance, your opportunity to speak out.Saturday, May 1st @ 2 p.m.-Theatre student matinee with post play discussion. Ticket prices range from Free ZAPped Tuesdays to $15-$37 depending on performance.  Student, Under 30, Group and Senior discounts available.  For tickets call 801- 363-7522, visit www.saltlakeactingcompany.org, or in person at 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103. SLAC was founded in 1970 and is dedicated to producing, commissioning and developing new works and to supporting a community of professional artists.  SLAC has been nationally recognized by the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Edgerton Foundation, among others.  SLAC is a Constituent Member of Theatre Communications Group, a national organization for non-profit professional regional theatres, and the National New Play Network.

By Rob Velella

Jamaica Plain Historical Society hosted a “Margaret Fuller and the Transcendentalists” on February 2, 2010.  A lecture was led by Rev. Jenny Rankin, minister at First Parish of Concord, who told the story of Margaret Fuller, her relationship to Jamaica Plain (where she lived for a time), and her role in the circle of Transcendentalism.  The Loring-Greenough House was packed to overflowing for the event. 

Rev. Rankin, who has taught classes on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and other Transcendentalists, kept the formal part of the event short.  The majority of the hour was dedicated to an informal conversation with the audience, who participated in getting closer to understanding Fuller and the Transcendentalist movement.  This portion of the talk was, no doubt, based on Fuller’s own “conversations,” a circle of women she brought together to discuss various intellectual topics.

The talk was sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society as part of the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club’s “First Tuesday” program series. Fuller and her family lived in the area in a rented house beginning in 1839.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2010   

Contact: Alida Bailey  W 978/369-3909  |  C 978/399-8229

Exploring the mystery of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller in the year of her bicentennial.
Charles Capper, Boston University professor of history and author of award winning Fuller biography, to speak at Concord's historic Colonial Inn in partnership with The Old Manse.

Concord, MA - 2010 will mark the 200th year since the birth of Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli, better known as Margaret Fuller - journalist, women's rights activist and intellectual. Many events, discussions, exhibits and presentations will take place across the US and throughout the year, though her actual birthday is the 23rd of May.

The Old Manse, in conjunction with the Colonial Inn, will host Professor Charles Capper, author of the impressive two -volume biography,  "Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life, " as he discusses the
potent connection between Margaret and Nathaniel Hawthorne, especially during his years at The Old Manse (1842-1845).

Prof. Capper will also highlight the particular impact of Fuller's literary criticism in regards to Hawthorne's fiction, and the strangely harsh appraisal which came from Nathaniel after Margaret's dramatic death by shipwreck in 1850.

"What's unique about this talk, in a year of Fuller bicentennial celebrations, is the attention that will be paid to a major literary character within her orbit" says Capper.  "Also, the powerful influence Fuller and Hawthorne had on each other, both public and private."

And yet, one needn't be entirely familiar with Fuller or her works to thoroughly enjoy Capper's discussion on her life.

"This event is for anyone who has an interest in Hawthorne, Fuller, transcendentalism, women's rights, early American literature or all of the above" says Tom Beardsley, Site Director of the Old Manse. " We're looking to reach a diverse crowd of history and literature enthusiasts with this exceptional and entertaining evening."

The event will be held on Thursday, March 4th, at the Colonial Inn, Concord. The $15 ticket price will include a special Fuller/Hawthorne-focused tour of the Manse, a pre-talk social hour with light refreshments and a cash bar, and of course, Capper's lecture.

In addition, every attendee will receive a dining gift certificate from the Colonial Inn, and $10 off a Trustees of Reservations Membership if purchased at the Old Manse before the 30th of March, 2010.

The Old Manse tour will begin at 5:00 pm, lasting for about 45 minutes. This is an optional portion of the event and can be taken on a later date. Beginning at 6:00 pm, attendees can make their way to a private room at the Colonial for socializing and meeting staff from The Old Manse. Capper's talk will begin at 7:00 pm.

To reserve a ticket (space is limited) please contact the Old Manse before the 4th of March at 978-369-3909 or email oldmanse@ttor.org.

For those traveling from out of town, reserve a room at the Colonial Inn by calling 800-370-9200 or book online at www.concordscolonialinn.com

About Charles Capper

Charles Capper came to Boston University in 2001 after teaching fifteen years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His scholarship focuses on American intellectual life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is the author of a two-volume biography, Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life (Oxford University Press, 1992-2007), the first volume of which won the Bancroft Prize. He is now working on a book on the Transcendentalists and the birth of Romantic democratic culture in America. He coedited Transient and Permanent: The Transcendentalist Movement in Its Contexts (1999), a collection of new scholarship on his book's central circle. He also coedited The American Intellectual Tradition, 2 vols., 6th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2010). He has received Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Humanities Center, and Charles Warren Center fellowships. He is the coeditor of the journal Modern Intellectual History published by Cambridge University Press.

About the Colonial Inn

Concord's Colonial Inn, which has a long and distinguished history, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original structure was built in 1716, and the property been operating as a hotel since 1889. Situated on Concord's town common, now known as Monument Square, the Inn is surrounded by many landmarks of our nation's literary and revolutionary history. Contact the Colonial at 800-370-9200 or visit them online at www.concordscolonialinn.com.

About the Old Manse

The Old Manse is a property of the Trustees of Reservations.
"The Trustees of Reservations preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts." 
The Old Manse is located at 269 Monument St., Concord, adjacent to the North Bridge.

For more information, contact the Old Manse at (978) 369-3909
Find us on Facebook as Old Manse
Twitter @OldManseConcord
or visit our web site at: www.oldmanse.org

###

Worship Resources
(download packet as pdf) 

An Extraordinary Celebration for an Extraordinary Woman    

January 2010 

Dear Congregational Leaders,

What a remarkable opportunity the 200th anniversary of the birth of Margaret Fuller affords us to celebrate her life, work and legacy.  To ensure a fitting celebration of this extraordinary woman, a group of Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay people, scholars, and representatives from historical sites, commissions and organizations have come together to lift up Fuller’s multi-faceted life as an author, conversationalist, journalist, friend, companion, mother, and wife. The span of her life coincided with an era known as “The Flowering of New England,” a time she shared with the looming figures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, Elizabeth Peabody, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, among others.

We have assembled this packet of worship resources as part of the effort to honor her remarkable life. It is meant to assist Unitarian Universalist congregations in a journey of discovery of this extraordinary woman, an ancestor of our faith.  Through informed worship may our congregations discover and rediscover Margaret Fuller in all her complexity, and be energized or re-energized as Unitarian Universalists in the spirit of her life.

 

For current information about Bicentennial events planned for this celebratory year, please visit the official website of the Bicentennial Committee: www.margaretfuller.org

 

Very truly yours,

 

The Reverend Rosemarie C. Smurzynski, and The Reverend Elizabeth B. Stevens

for the Margaret Fuller Bicentennial Committee 

 

Contents 

Resources from Unitarian Universalist

Hymnbook, Singing the Living Tradition

Hymns      4

Readings      4

 

Resources from Unitarian Universalist Hymnbook,
Singing the Journey      6

 

Quotations from Fuller      7

 

Chronology      12

 

Selected Bibliography

Selected Books and Chapters      21

Web Sites      22

 

Sermon:  “Margaret Fuller: Adieu, and Love as You Can” by the Rev. Christine Hillman      24

 

Dramatic Dialog Fuller/Emerson: “Distant Relations” by the Rev Mark Harris      30

CHARACTER REENACTOR portrays MARGARET FULLER

 

Character reenactor Jessa Piaia will present a dramatic portrayal of Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) in “Meet Margaret Fuller in West Roxbury on the Spring Equinox” at the West Roxbury Public Library located at 1961 Centre Street on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm.  The day’s program is set on March 20, 1845, when Miss Fuller is back in town from Manhattan.  She reminisces about her growing up days in Cambridgeport and Boston; her literary achievements, and adventures with the Transcendentalist group including Brook Farm residents; as well as her present employment as first female literary critic for the New York Daily Tribune.  A recognized leader of local Conversations, Margaret will engage the audience with characteristic verve and candor, relating episodes about her circle of friends, philosophy, and travel pursuits.  Cosponsored by the West Roxbury Historical Society, the portrayal runs approximately 30 minutes in length, with an informal Q&A to follow. For more information about this program, contact Bob Murphy at 617-327-6331.   Piaia uses drama to reveal the accomplishments, struggles, and contributions of women to American history.  Clad in period attire, she is acclaimed for “recreating history in the fullest sense,” and for using “solid research and compelling writing” in her artistry.  She performs at educational institutions, museums, libraries, social and cultural organizations throughout New England.  An eleven-site Massachusetts tour of Susan B. Anthony in Spring 1994 was supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities; and a mini-grant was awarded in Fall 1997 for the program, “From Suffragist to Citizen: A Conversation with Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt” for three sites across the state, with Piaia (as Anthony) and Elena Dodd (as Roosevelt).

Ms. Piaia studied performance at London’s Oval House Theatre, and graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She works at Harvard University. Research for this program was conducted through conversations and at local archives. The program was presented at the 199^th birthday of Margaret Fuller’s Bicentennial Celebration committee; at Cambridge Discovery Days at Longfellow House Garden; and at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

 

For more information, contact Jessa Piaia at (617) 388-8795 or visit her website at, http://www.womeninhistoryprograms.com.