To Begin the World Over Again: The Life of Thomas Paine

Note: The location of this event has changed.

Guest Artist: Ian Ruskin

To Begin the World Over Again: The Life of Thomas Paine is the very personal story of one of history’s most misunderstood men, living in a world throwing off dogma and superstitions as it embraced the Age of Enlightenment. It was Paine’s writings, in short, simple sentences, that opened people’s eyes to these new ideas and, in the process, changed the world. This is also a story of blood and toil, of disasters when the timing is off and triumphs when it falls into place, and of the great revolutions washing over the raw and unformed panorama of America and the exquisite palaces of France. The play, written with leading Paine scholars as consultants, features excerpts from his great works, a beautiful soundtrack, and a magnificent, if appropriately disheveled, costume and wig for Mr. Paine. It will leave you with a new understanding of the revolutions and search for enlightenment that forged the world that we live in today.

Co-Sponsored by the Mason Gross Theater Department and the School of Management and Labor Relations

Free; no ticket required but seating is limited