Mon, September 10, 2012 7:00 P.M.
Rare Book Department at Parkway Central Library

As part of the Fringe Festival and the Free Library's "Year of Dickens" Parkway Central will host a staged reading of a new play developed from Charles Dickens’ American Notes, the famous author’s book in which he recounts his experiences and impressions taken during his six months journey to the United States in 1842.

There will be two evening performances of Paint the American Eagle, Monday 10 September and Tuesday 11 September, both performances beginning at 7:00 PM in room 108 at the Parkway Central Library. A third performance will be given on Wednesday afternoon, 12 September, beginning at 2:00 PM in the Montgomery Auditorium also at the Parkway Central library.

Until 1842, Americans saw the author Dickens as a kindred spirit: a counterpoint to the European upper class; a champion of equality; a fellow traveler on the road to the democratic ideals they believed their new republic was projecting upon the old world. Many were disappointed and even angry when they learned that Mr. Dickens did not take away from his visit an impression entirely consistent with what they believed about themselves.

For Catherine Hogarth-Dickens, Charles' disappointment in the young country's failure to deliver justice would begin to look a lot like the disappointment she experienced in her marriage. Paint the American Eagle opens the dusty cover of American Notes exposing a new audience to America, as Charles Dickens experienced it. The play examines the conflict between ideals and practice.

In the play, Catherine, with the help of her daughter Kate, challenges Mr. Dickens to examine the difference between the ideals he espoused and the treatment his family experienced under his administration. Catherine’s personal relationship with Charles, dramatized in Paint the American Eagle, facilitates recognition of the cautionary tale found within American Notes—a message Mr. Dickens intended to convey to his American audience.

Admission is FREE but a ticket is required. Visit http://livearts-fringe.ticketleap.com/paint-the-american-eagle/ to reserve your ticket.

Room 108