Chances are, you know Richard Thomas as John-Boy on The Waltons. Or maybe you saw him more recently in his many-episode arcs on shows like The Americans and Ozark. You might鈥檝e even seen him on Broadway in Our Town or as Atticus Finch in the tour of To Kill a Mockingbird. He鈥檚 in town doing the very first authorized production of since Hal Holbrook died.
And John Jeremiah Sullivan has won the Pushcart Prize, two National Magazine Awards, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His essay 鈥溾�� ran in the 175th anniversary issue of Harpers.
This hour, Thomas and Sullivan join us to talk Twain.
Thomas, who is performing this month at TheaterWorks Hartford, said that Twain stays relevant 鈥� and funny 鈥� more than 115 years after his death.
鈥淭wain is evergreen because he is absolutely us in all of our contradictions,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淭he evolution of his social consciousness mirrors ours. The evolution of Huckleberry Finn鈥檚 social consciousness mirrors his. What makes it go in deep is that he always tries to find something funny to say about it. Like he said, humor is mankind鈥檚 greatest blessing.鈥�
runs through Aug. 24. It鈥檚 sold out, but there鈥檚 a waiting list, and box office walk-ups are welcome.
GUESTS:
- John Jeremiah Sullivan: A writer, musician, and editor
- Richard Thomas: An Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor
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Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Betsy Kaplan, Cat Pastor, Dylan Reyes, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, parts of which originally aired February 4, 2015; September 14, 2023; and June 5, 2024, in a different form.
