The Shepherd Center for the Performing Arts will host a performance by local playwrght Beth Luey about the long friendship between famed author Mark Twain and Fairhaven tycoon Henry Huttleston Rogers Oct. 3 and 4.
Directed by Kiah Allaire, “Rogers & Twain In Their Own Words” is a conversation between two old friends, taken from their letters back and forth. Each man was highly successful in his own career. Mark Twain was perhaps the most famous writer of his time and traveled the world as a speaker, drawing sell-out crowds. Henry Rogers, a native of Fairhaven, was a self-made millionaire who invested in oil, railroads, and copper. Ruthless in business, he was one of the wealthiest men in the world.
The men were introduced by a mutual friend who hoped that Rogers, who admired Twain’s writing, could help rescue the writer from financial disaster. The play begins with their meeting and Rogers’ resolution of Twain’s pending bankruptcy. Although their financial dealings continued throughout their lives, the play focuses on their friendship and their families. There’s a lot of talk about the new mansion that Rogers is building, the buildings he donated to the town, and Fairhaven politics.
The dialogue is taken directly from their letters to each other.
The play will be performed at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3 at The Shepherd Center, 34 Center St. (William Street entrance) and again on Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 online and $25 at the door.
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