A Play: The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

By: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee



I read this play for the first time junior year of high school. I just really fell in love with it. So many of the quotes and scenes have stuck with me for four years. For those of you who haven't read it, the play chronicles (obviously) the night Henry David Thoreau spent in jail because he refused to pay his taxes to the American government. The play is rich of quotes from Thoreau's other works like Walden and Civil Disobedience. There are flashbacks in Thoreau's life so the audience can develop a feel for who Thoreau is and why he acts the way he does. All in all the play is a very simple play, has little fluff or anything else that could distract from the action. The thought of simplifying and creating a visually simple play harps on Thoreau's motto to live simply. "Simplify!" I recommend this play to anyone who enjoys plays, Thoreau, Romantic ideas or who just wants to learn something new from someone interesting.

"Every creative event that ever happened in the world was an interruption. Unexpected. Unplanned for. The only people who ever get anyplace interesting are the people who get lost."

"I'm afraid that I might 'live' right through this moment- and only live- look at you and only see you. Oh, it doesn't hurt at all to look at you, believe me. But what if there's more- and I miss it?"

Next book: A Memoir

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

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