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Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau is a Two act, one set play
involving FOUR actors. Each act is about 35 minutes long. There
are no set changes.
NOTE TO DIRECTORS: Actor direction and action notes have been
kept to a minimum in the script to allow actors to move and
breath freely within the dialogue. Remember, both Thoreau and
Emerson were orators and, during this period in New England,
would likely have been given to bold and sweeping gestures. By
contrast, Joshua and Rachel should be more conservative.
The play involves five PRE-RECORDED sound effects tracks. The
first track is the VO dialogue at the beginning of the play. The
second is a mix of sounds of a gentle breeze, leaves rustling,
birds in the distance and pond waves lapping against a shore.
The third is 30 seconds of a solo flute, a morning melody, soft
and gentle. The FOURTH is another solo flute, slightly more
upbeat, but still beautiful. The FIFTH is the VO found at the
end of the play.
The lead is HENRY DAVID THOREAU, a thirty year old writer and
struggling author. He has left his home in Concord and built a
cabin on Walden Pond for $28, where he’s lived now for the past
two years and two months. He prefers to be alone, can play the
flute and is a very expressive writer. Much of his dialogue are
actual quotes or composite quotes taken from his writings.
His older friend and mentor is RALPH WALDO EMERSON who comes to
visit him on the final two days of Henry’s stay at this cabin.
Ralph is a longtime friend of Thoreau’s and admires the younger
man’s courage, passion and conviction. Emerson, who provided the
land for the cabin, often acts as a spoiler in his constant
testing of Henry’s convictions. He delivers his lines with blank
conviction, almost like the James Spader character from Boston
Legal. Like Thoreau, much of Emerson’s lines are based on actual
or composite quotes from his writings.
The intellectual arguments between THOREAU and EMERSON are
reflected through the common man character JOSHUA BARNETT. He is
a short, thin sixty year old laborer employed by Henry’s
father. He came to America from England, a family man and very
sincere. He has almost a Liverpool accent, unrefined but wrapped
in British reserve. Very funny but never joking around, nor ever
aware he is funny.
Our female point if view is provided by the character of RACHEL
STUERS. She is in her 20’s, very pretty and expressive with an
abrupt style of speaking. In another place, another time she
might have fallen in love with Thoreau. She has the gleamings of
feminism long before it was acknowledged by society. She is an
avid reader who is aware of Thoreau’s writings and that he is a
failed author. She is offended at his literary stumbling because
she believes he is great.
Finally, our play is not a biography of Thoreau. It is a
conversation and intellectual argument that occurs between two
old colleagues who love and respect each other a great deal. It
is a peak into what made Henry a great writer and the rejection
he was facing. It is a play of farewell as Henry leaves the
cabin on Walden Pond. It is about the insecurity of his purpose
and reasons for being there.
Ultimately, this play is about friendship and loyalty ... of
believing and supporting a writer, thinker, visionary and artist
who was decades ahead of his time.