Is He Dead? is a play by Mark Twain. Written by Twain in 1898, It was first published in print in 2003, after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. The play was long known to scholars but never attracted much attention until Fishkin arranged to have it published in book form. She later played a primary role in getting the play produced on Broadway. Contemporary American Playright, David Ives adapted the play for the modern stage before it's inaugural performance in 2007. Is He Dead? is now published and licensed for theatrical use by Playscripts, Inc.
The play focuses on a fictional version of the great French painter Jean-François Millet as an impoverished artist in Barbizon, France who, with the help of his colleagues, stages his death in order to increase the value of his paintings, and afterwards dresses as a woman to keep his secret safe. Combining elements of burlesque, farce, and social satire, the comedy relies on such devices as cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and romantic deceptions to tell its story, which raises questions about fame, greed, and the value of art.
Wikipedia[ - ]
Is He Dead? is a play by Mark Twain. Written by Twain in 1898, It was first published in print...
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Is He Dead? is a play by Mark Twain. Written by Twain in 1898, It was first published in print in 2003, after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California at Berkeley. The play was long known to scholars but never attracted much attention until Fishkin arranged to have it published in book form. She later played a primary role in getting the play produced on Broadway. Contemporary American Playright, David Ives adapted the play for the modern stage before it's inaugural performance in 2007. Is He Dead? is now published and licensed for theatrical use by Playscripts, Inc.
The play focuses on a fictional version of the great French painter Jean-François Millet as an impoverished artist in Barbizon, France who, with the help of his colleagues, stages his death in order to increase the value of his paintings, and afterwards dresses as a woman to keep his secret safe. Combining elements of burlesque, farce, and social satire, the comedy relies on such devices as cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and romantic deceptions to tell its story, which raises questions about fame, greed, and the value of art.
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