A Script-in-hand reading

7:30 PM, Thursday, March 7

Tufts University Hillel

220 Packard Ave., Medford, MA 02155

In 1858 New Orleans, theatre manager and playwright George Washington Lazarus has two problems on his hands, and both of them involve trial scenes: an actor in his own company has chosen to play Shylock for a benefit performance; and his trial for first-degree murder begins the next day. Lazarus refuses to defend himself; but his wife and daughter may have other plans.

Inspired by people, events, and plays featured in the Bernard Hewitt Award-winning book, Hideous Characters and Beautiful Pagans: Performing Jewish Identity on the Antebellum American Stage, by Heather Nathans, Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies Tufts University