The Pete Simpson family brings more than 200 years of theater experience to the production
of “John Brown’s Body” showing Nov. 13-16 in Cody, Casper, Cheyenne and Laramie.
The Pete Simpson family production of “John Brown’s Body” will be presented Friday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences auditorium.
The Laramie production concludes a four-day tour that also includes performances in Cody, Casper and Cheyenne. The production will feature a 16-voice choir accompanying the play with choral music, acting and sound effects.
Spontaneous Productions Theater Company was co-founded by popular Wyoming figure Pete Simpson Sr. and his wife, Lynne. His sons Milward and Pete Jr. and daughter Maggie join their parents in this production, bringing the combined theater experience of the family to more than 200 years.
The production can be seen in the following Wyoming communities:
Tickets cost $20 for general admission and $10 for students. Groups of students and teachers with eight or more members can receive a special rate of $5 per ticket, available at the door.
Steven Vincent Benet’s epic poem "John Brown’s Body,” is being performed in honor of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. Benet was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and writer who died at age 44 in 1943.
“The story focuses on the fortunes of a northern soldier and a southern officer, their loved ones and families, and are juxtaposed against the larger themes of leadership in war touching on Lincoln’s burdens in saving the Union and Lee’s tragic heroism in defending the South,” say the Simpsons.
For more information, call Janet Bucknell at (307) 899-1206 or visit www.johnbrownsbody.org.
