The Library will open its slate of fall programs with a one-act play on the life of Thomas Paine, written and performed by British actor and playwright Ian Ruskin, with Elliot Gould as the voice of the prologue and epilogue. The Society is pleased to present this performance since Paine was an elected Member of the APS and the Library is a major repository for historic Paine-related materials.
The Society's Thomas Paine collection, assembled by Colonel Richard Gimbel (of the famous department store chain), includes nearly every significant edition of every work written by Paine, such as first editions of Common Sense, Age of Reason, and Rights of Man, and most dramatically, a blood-stained copy of American Crisis. The collection also includes more than 100 prints, mostly anti-Paine, by the masters of British political cartooning, such as James Gilray and James Sayre, along with dozens of rare newspapers, pamphlets, and other works printed by advocates of Paine's philosophy.
Among the consulting scholars for Ruskin's play is APS Member Gary B. Nash, Director of the National Center for History in the Schools and Professor Emeritus at UCLA.
(Ian Ruskin photo credit: Tom Dempsey.)
To learn more about the play, view scenes, and see crew credits, please click here.
Please help support the APS click on the link below for more information.
