Hartford Stage, Mark Twain House & Museum to Host Talk on George Bernard Shaw & Mark Twain

Hartford Stage and The Mark Twain House & Museum will co-host a free discussion, From Avarice to Apathy - An Exploration of the Political Satire of George Bernard Shaw and Mark Twain, on Monday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m.

The discussion will feature Dr. James Golden, Director of Education for The Mark Twain House & Museum, and David Staller, Founding Artistic Director of the Gingold Theatrical Group in New York.

The discussion coincides with Darko Tresnjak's production of Shaw's Heartbreak House, running at Hartford Stage from May 11 through June 11, and The Mark Twain House & Museum's exhibition, Twain's Temper: His Top 10 Tantrums and Righteous Rages, running through January 2018.

The focus will be on commonalities in Shaw's comic, caustic play Heartbreak House and Twain's novel, co-written with Hartford Courant Editor Charles Dudley Warner in 1873, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Golden and Staller will discuss Twain's themes of greed and corruption in the years following the American Civil War and Shaw's contemplation of apathy in the moment preceding the First World War in England. The themes that appear in both are more relevant than ever in today's ever-changing political landscape.

Heartbreak House is about the venerable Captain Shotover, his daughters - one liberal, the other conservative - and a household full of bickering guests in a home that's like a ship, or a country, charting uncertain waters. Twain's Temper explores what made Mark Twain mad - from the telephone to Yankee imperialism in the Philippines. Visitors to the Mark Twain House & Museum will get a taste of Twain's eloquent, humane rants against injustice and his quirkier dislikes and irritations.

Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director ElizaBeth Williamson, Dramaturg for Heartbreak House, as well as Anastasia and Romeo & Juliet, will moderate the discussion.

James Golden is a Hartford native. He studied Divinity and History at the University of Edinburgh before receiving a doctorate in Modern History from the University of Oxford. He has been Director of Education at The Mark Twain House & Museum since 2015 and is also currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Trinity College in Hartford.

David Staller is the founding artistic director of New York's Gingold Theatrical Group, now in its 12th year. Gingold Theatrical Group was created to champion human rights and free speech in the arts using the work and humanitarian precepts of George Bernard Shaw as its guide. Its popular PROJECT SHAW series can be seen, monthly, at Symphony Space. Staller has directed performances of all of Shaw's 65 plays. Gingold Theatrical Group also presents classes, discussion groups, new play development programs, and annual off-Broadway productions.

The free discussion will be at Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street. Refreshments will be served. To RSVP, call (860) 520-7114 or online at hartfordstage.formstack.com/forms/heartbreak_house_discussion. Guests may purchase discounted parking vouchers at the Hartford Stage box office for $6.50 for use in the MAT Garage adjacent to the theatre and the Church Street Garage beneath the Hilton Hotel.

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