Philip Paradis Will Appear as RALPH WALDO EMERSON: THE SAGE OF CONCORD at American Theatre of Actors

The American Theatre of Actors has announced a special one-night-only performance of Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Sage of Concord, a new play by Philip Paradis. This engaging biographical work offers an intimate glimpse into the life and mind of one of America's most influential thinkers.

Set on an evening in September 1871, the play finds sixty-eight-year-old Ralph Waldo Emerson at home in his study in Concord, Massachusetts. As unexpected visitors drop by, the renowned intellectual interrupts his work to charm his guests with reflections on his life and times. Through his conversations, audiences will be transported back to a pivotal era in American history as Emerson shares his thoughts on a wide range of topics, including reading and writing, education, religion, and politics. The play also touches on his relationships with fellow Transcendentalists, Henry David Thoreau and Bronson Alcott, his views on Abraham Lincoln and slavery, and his deep connection to nature and science.

A fiercely original thinker, Emerson was a central figure in the 19th-century Transcendentalist movement, leading a salon of intellectuals and writers from his home in Concord. Internationally famous yet controversial in his time, he was a poet, essayist, lecturer, and powerful cultural force. His progressive theological views and outspoken anti-slavery stance earned him both praise and criticism, with some conservative Christians labeling him "The Satan of the Lyceum" while others hailed him as a progressive reformer. Today, his influential ideas on religion, psychology, politics, and society have become mainstream. He is perhaps best known for his essays and sage advice on how to live a good and meaningful life, a legacy that earned him the title "The Sage of Concord" from his townsfolk.

Join in for this unique opportunity to take the measure of this great American philosopher and writer for yourself.