Announcing Moderator, Panelists & Actors for Newport

This special event will be held at one of Newport, Rhode Island’s most iconic buildings. The Colony House first served as the primary state house of Rhode Island from its completion in 1739 until 1901. During Wilder’s first visits to Newport, he would have recognized this building as the Newport County Courthouse. In 1961, it was designated a National Historic Landmark, just twelve years before Wilder would publish Theophilus North.

We are thrilled to announce an esteemed line-up of panelists and actors for our April 4th Book Launch Event Theophilus North: A Love Letter To Newport presented with the Newport Historical Society.

Sarah Littlefield, a professor of English and former chair of the English Department at Salve Regina University has presented and published papers on Thornton Wilder (and is both a member of the Newport Historical Society and the Thornton Wilder Society), will moderate.  Joining Sarah will be:

Dan Titus – an Adjunct Professor at Salve Regina University, a collector and curator of Newport’s photographic history and a collaborator with the Thornton Wilder Society on tours of Wilder’s Newport.  

John Tschirch – an Architectural Historian presently working with the Newport Historical Society on a book focused on the evolution of Newport’s streetscapes and squares as a work of urban art.

Tappan Wilder - Thornton Wilder’s nephew and literary executor, who penned the novel’s new Afterward.

Reading excerpts from Theophilus North will be:

Tony Estrella - a professional actor, director and the Artistic Dirctor of the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, RI

Casey Seymour Kim - Resident Artist at the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, RI, and Professor of Theatre at Rhode Island College

We hope you can join us on Thursday, April 4th from 5:30-7:30pm at The Colony House for a lively conversation!. This evening is FREE and open to the public but reservations are recommended. You can make yours HERE.

Please note: all panelists are subject to change.