University of Virginia Library

Focal Point

The focal point of the play is
the night which Henry David
Thoreau passed in a Concord,
Massachusetts jail for refusing to
pay his taxes because he did not
support the war in Mexico which
they would help finance. The play
is not about Thoreau the author,
but rather about Thoreau the man,
the naturalist, the romantic, the
transcendentalist, and the
quasi-revolutionary. It is about, in
the playwrights' own words, his
"decision to return to the human
race . . . his evolution from
withdrawal to return, the journey
from hermitizing to social
conscience."

All well and good. This could
make an interesting play. And it
does-once the authors begin to
structure their play with this end in
mind. But it is not until the very
end of the first act that we even
begin to view Thoreau as an outcast
of society. Then the play takes
shape. Its dramatic purpose
becomes evident and Thoreau's
relationships with Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Emerson's son Edward,
his deceased brother John, and,
most important, his beloved Walden
Pond take on real significance. And
the play begins to build beautifully,
through a dramatic confrontation
between Emerson and Thoreau,
through a vivid nightmare, through
crisp, economical dialogue to the
poignant final scene in which Henry
makes his final decision, his
ultimate commitment.