Is He Dead?

Infobox Play
name = Is He Dead?


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writer = Mark Twain
chorus =
characters = Jean-François Millet Agamemnon Buckner Marie Leroux Hans von Bismarck Cecile Leroux
mute =
setting = Paris and Barbizon, 1846
date of premiere = 9 December 2007
country of Origin = United States
original language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Comedy, Satire
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playbill_event =
ibdb_id = 466223 "Is He Dead?" is a play by Mark Twain. It was first published in print in 2003, [cite web|title=Is He Dead? A comedy in three acts|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10118.html|accessdate=2007-08-01] after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. The project is [cite web|title=Mark Twain Project Online|url=http://www.marktwainproject.org/homepage.html|accessdate=2007-10-29] the world's largest collection of Mark Twain's manuscripts, letters, facsimiles, photographs, first and early editions, scholarly works on his life and times, and other ephemera. The play was long known to scholars but never attracted much attention until Fishkin arranged to have it published in book form. She later played a primary role in getting the play produced on Broadway.

Written in 1898 in Vienna, the play focuses on a fictional version of the great French painter Jean-Francois Millet as an impoverished artist in Barbizon, France who, with the help of his colleagues, stages his death in order to increase the value of his paintings. Combining elements of burlesque, farce, and social satire, the comedy relies on such devices as cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and romantic deceptions to tell its story, which raises questions about fame, greed, and the value of art. A detailed synopsis of Mark Twain's original manuscript of the play--along with synopses of most of Mark Twain's writings--can be found in "Critical Companion to Mark Twain" (2007) by R. Kent Rasmussen.

World Premiere

Adapted by David Ives, a former Guggenheim Foundation Fellow in playwriting, and directed by Michael Blakemore, "Is He Dead?" had its world premiere at the Lyceum Theatre. The Broadway production began previews on November 8 and was set to open on November 29, 2007, but due to the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike, it was postponed to December 9, 2007.

It received favorable reviews in the "New York Times" [cite web|title=It’s Not Life on the Mississippi, Jean-François Honey|url=http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/theater/reviews/10dead.html|accessdate=2008-03-12] and "Variety", [cite web|title=Variety Review: Is He Dead?|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935606.html?categoryid=33&cs=1|accessdate=2008-03-12] but closed on March 9, 2008, after 105 performances. [cite web|title=Broadway's Is He Dead? Ends Run at Broadway's Lyceum March 9; Macbeth to Follow|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115720.html|accessdate=2008-03-12]

Original Broadway Cast

*Jean-François Millet-Norbert Leo Butz
*Bastien André-Byron Jennings
*Papa Leroux-John McMartin
*Agamemnon Buckner (“Chicago”)-Michael McGrath
*Marie Leroux-Jenn Gambatese
*Hans von Bismarck (“Dutchy”)-Tom Alan Robbins
*Cecile Leroux-Bridget Regan
*Phelim O’Shaughnessy-Jeremy Bobb
*Madame Caron-Marylouise Burke
*Madame Bathilde-Patricia Conolly
*Basil Thorpe, Claude Rivière, Charlie, The King of France-David Pittu [cite web|title=Pittu, Jennings, McGrath, Gambatese Will Ask, "Is He Dead?" on Broadway|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/110591.html|accessdate=2007-09-04]

Other Showings

Is He Dead? will be performed by Glenville State College in early October as the first college performance [cite web|title=Mark Twain Comes to Glenville State College|url=http://www.glenville.wvnet.edu/newsEvents.asp?newsID=439] . It will also be performed by by the thespian troop 2 of Fairmont Senior High School in mid November as the first high school public performance of the show.

Original FSHS Cast

*Jean-François Millet- Josh Leeper
*Bastien André- Cody Wilson
*Papa Leroux- Jerico Offcut
*Agamemnon Buckner (“Chicago”)- Evan Storms
*Marie Leroux- Emily Miser
*Hans von Bismarck (“Dutchy”)- Aaron Pilkington
*Cecile Leroux- Lindsey Estel
*Phelim O’Shaughnessy- Tyler Merifield
*Madame Caron- Abby Storm
*Madame Bathilde- Rhea Minor
*Basil Thorpe, The King of France- Jefferson Moore
*Claude Rivière- Julia Oliveto
*Charlie- Cameron Williams

References