2:00 PM
Living Literature will be bringing back its sucessful Louisa May Alcott’s Life Sketches, in a limited run to celebrate Women’s History Month, March, 2012. This 40 minute, two person, readers theatre-style presentation shares the early life of Louisa May Alcott, in her own words, based on three of her autobiographical sketches: Hospital Sketches (1862), Reminiscences of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1882), and Recollections of My Childhood (1888). This program was originally part of an NEH grant written by the Providence Public Library in support of the Louisa May Alcott Library Outreach Program. as part of a series of program celebrating her life throughout October and November, 2011.
We know Louisa May Alcott best as the author of Little Women, but few of us are aware of her unique childhood, in Concord, Massachusetts, and her world view greatly influenced by her relationship with neighbor, Ralph Waldo Emerson as a young adult. As a young woman, she was part of a much-debated experiment on the part of the Army’s medical department during the Civil War. Guided by the experiences of Florence Nightengale, the Army decided female nurses would help improve conditions. This entertaining program, in Louisa’s unique voice, tells of her varied experiences, focusing on her Civil War nursing experiences in a Washington, D.C. hospital. Performing with Artistic Director, Barry Press will be Kelly Seigh. (Bios below).
Kelly Seigh is a graduate of Trinity Rep Conservatory and also holds a BA in Elementary Education from Stonehill College. She is a founding member and artistic associate of Elemental Theatre Collective and has performed at Trinity Rep, The Gamm, North Shore Music Theatre, and Wagonwheel Theatre. Kelly is also frequently involved with the Manton Avenue Project.
Barry Press, Artistic Director and founder, has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and an AB in Speech/Theatre from Bates College. He has been an active professional actor/director/teacher for thirty five years. Mr. Press has performed Off-Broadway, and at the Merrimack, Seattle, Yale and Trinity Repertory Theatres, among others. He has directed at the Roger Williams College, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, American Stage (Florida), Worcester Forum Theatre, and a number of theaters in Seattle. He has taught at Princeton University, URI, RIC, College of the Holy Cross, Eckerd College (Florida), University of Washington, Trinity Rep Conservatory, Perishable Theatre Arts School, and has been a Guest Artist and Teaching Associate at Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English for eighteen years. Mr. Press is currently President of the Rhode Island Center for the Book at Providence Public Library, an affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., created to celebrate reading, writing, making and sharing books across RI.