'The Gospel According to Mark' Plays July 31

JR Stuart stars as Mark Twain in "The Gospel According to Mark" - Saturday July 31, 7:30pm

As printed in the North Vernon Plain Dealer

"The Gospel According to Mark" adapted from the words and works of Mark Twain by J.R. Stuart, is a one-man tour-de-force that reveals not only a celebrated author at the top of his game, but also the Missouri-grown adventurer and family man as he looks back and within as he puts together his autobiography. Stuart, as Twain, will trod the boards at North Vernon's acclaimed Park Theatre Civic Centre for one performance only at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 31.

A Decatur County native and professional stage actor, Stuart is a theatre performance graduate of Ball State University and is a veteran of over 200 stage productions including the nationals tours of "Chicago," "Brigadoon" and "Gigi" and his other one-man venture portraying President Truman in Samuel Gallu's "Give 'Em Hell Harry!" Stuart received rave reviews when he staged "Give 'Em Hell Harry!" at the Park Theatre two years ago.

Stuart has been the resident character actor at Derby Dinner Playhouse in Clarksville since 1990 and is thrilled to have an opportunity to take his Twin project on the road. What began as a senior thesis project at Ball State has blossomed into a full-length literary portrait that explores both sides of the Clemens/Twain coin.

Act one (1895) finds Twain onstage as he appeared during his "debt tour" providing his humorous takes on the joys of travel by rail, doling out sage "Advice to Youth," reflecting on his preferred vocation - piloting on the Mississippi, and offering a whirlwind selection from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," in which the author plays all the parts himself.

Act two (1905) finds Twain a decade later, in the confines of his study, reminiscing about the carefree days of childhood, his mother, and early family life; celebrating the joys of advanced age; questioning the motivations behind a lynch mob; and attempts to reconcile his vast literary success with his multiple personal losses as he evokes his late wife's spirit in the selection from "Eve's Diary."

The theme that ties both acts together? Twain's writings on truth, conscience, meaning, freedom, equality, and man's relationship to God that are weaved through most everything he wrote. This "Lincoln of American Literature" is as candid and revelatory today as he was a century ago - an original to be celebrated.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students. Call 346-0330.

Visit our online calendar for more information. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact the Park Theatre's box office at 346-0330 or stop by at 25 South Madison Avenue in North Vernon.

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