Johnny Kinsman
Two Lanterns, a Full Moon, and a Petticoat: Exploring the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
It was an act of Treason. On the night of April 18, 1775 Robert Newman, Sexton of Christ Church in Boston slipped through a window of his home, undetected by the British soldiers who were living there. He climbed quietly to the steeple and lit two lanterns: signals to his co-conspirators that their plot against the Crown had begun. Angry shouts. Newman looked down to see British soldiers running toward the Church. He’d been discovered. Escaping down the stairs and through a window, he made it safely to his bed. The next day he was arrested and questioned. He lied. Thus ignited a citizens’ Revolution that changed the world. Join actor, writer, director, storyteller Johnny Kinsman for a presentation and slide show about the fateful midnight ride that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made famous. Why were Paul Revere and William Dawes heading to Lexington? Did the full moon impede their progress? And what about that petticoat?! Kinsman will reveal these and other details rarely shared about this historic episode in his presentation and slideshow.
Black Heroes of
The American Revolution
While 18th Century American land owners, merchants and businessmen began to grumble about perceived economic and sovereign oppression by the British empire, many men and women struggling on the American continent had arrived there as captives from their native Africa, or had been born into a brutal cycle of chattel slavery. As various political rows turned to tangible bloodshed in the midst of revolution, many black men and women- still a century away from being recognized as citizens- threw themselves into the fray on both sides of the global conflict. Some took up arms because they were promised emancipation from bondage, others fought simply to defend the land they'd come to know as home. With thundering cannons and whispering quills, the resplendence of soldiers and the secrecy of spies, these brave black men and women cast themselves as central characters in the battle for American freedom. Join orator Johnny Kinsman in this 60 minute discussion that highlights some of the individuals that risked their all to make their dream of a free America come true.
The Folly of Hubris: An Exploration of The Battle of Bunker hill
Mistakes, coincidences, personal intrigue and the folly of hubris ignited a conflagration that became the most important battle of the American Revolution: The Battle of Bunker Hill. Were British soldiers really so cavalier that they actually sat down for a meal in full view of the colonial soldiers’ redoubt? Were colonists so audacious that they waged an assault on King George’s army with little more than shovels and pick axes? Actor Johnny Kinsman will transport audiences to June 17, 1775, when the forces of a mighty empire met the impassioned rage of an oppressed people. With slides and narrative he will recount the very personal stories and sacrifices made by fiery colonists who would no longer suffer a tyrant, and resolute British soldiers who would die in defense of their empire.
Loneliness Unbroken: Edgar Allan Poe's Dark Journey from
Boston to Baltimore
Edgar Allan Poe has been lauded as one of America's most important writers- not only for the body of work he created, but also for the greatness he continues to stir in others. Notable artists who have taken inspiration from Poe include detective novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, horror writer and historian H.P. Lovecraft, author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury, Hollywood auteur Alfred Hitchcock, and best-selling master of suspense Stephen King. In an apropos twist of dark irony, Poe, the subject of enthusiastic admiration for generations after his death, spent much of his bleak career unappreciated, friendless, and, at times, even reviled. Poe's hapless upbringing and frequent poverty formed the tragic beauty of his writing, and his enigmatic demise sparked a curious appreciation of his work that began only after his untimely end. In this discussion accompanied by illustrative and documentary slides, actor and storyteller Johnny Kinsman will chronicle the formative relationships and major events in Poe's complicated life, and will read excerpts from his celebrated work.
Shakespeare's Sonnets:
From the Page to the Stage
William Shakespeare is celebrated around the world for his unparalleled ability to bring unforgettable characters to the stage. Less known, and therefore less lauded, are the 154 sonnets penned by the famous playwright as ruminations on life and love. While the muses that ignited Shakespeare's passionate poetry are obscured by the mists of time, the enduring brilliance they inspired, and the resulting sonnets penned to them, celebrate everlasting love that transcends human frailty. Please join Actor and Director Johnny Kinsman in an exploration of Shakespeare's sonnets, and a discussion of how an actor might use inflection, imagery, and meter to lift these versatile poems from page to performance.
A Reading of A Christmas Carol
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." That quote from Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol was derived from the essays of Reverend Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) who wrote prodigiously during his time about the need to decrease the “surplus population.” One can’t say for sure that Malthus was suggesting people should just go and die, but Dickens employed the theory to make his point. He was deeply troubled by the widespread poverty and deprivation that industrial growth brought to England during his lifetime, whose society in the 1840’s generally held that poor people were lazy and immoral, lacking in character, thus deserving of their plight. They were sent to workhouses where conditions were intentionally cruel under the belief that harsh circumstances would inspire them to raise themselves up and become upstanding citizens. Dickens knew better. He spent a good part of his childhood in a workhouse when his father was sent to debtor’s prison. He knew better than anyone that people who are starving, freezing, overworked and plagued with disease are rarely able to work their way to a better life. As a philanthropist he gave generously to charities that helped the poor, but his most powerful weapon was his pen, and he aimed it with precision at the brutality of English moral code when he wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. What was originally intended as a pamphlet that would wield a “sledge hammer” blow against the “modern” ideas about work and economy soon expanded into A Christmas Carol, the novella that was hailed as “a new gospel,” by Victorian readers and has remained a beloved classic for every generation since. Join Johnny Kinsman in a dramatic reading (with illustrative slides) derived from the very script Dickens himself followed during the story's 1867 United States debut, which just happened to be in the good old city of Boston!
How We Remember the Fifth of November: Beyond the
Gunpowder Plot
Remember, remember the 5th of November, the Gunpowder treason and plot... If the Pope had simply granted a divorce to King Henry VIII of England, then the Church of England might never have picked a fight with Rome. Were that the case, think of the rivers of blood that might have been spared in the hundreds of years of tumult between the Catholics and the Protestants of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the world. But, alas, the divorce was not granted, and the battle lines were drawn, and the persecution did ensue, and so in 1605 a man named Guy Fawkes set out as part of a swashbuckling crew to administer their version of justice with "The Gunpowder Plot". In this talk we discuss who the real Guy Fawkes was, how he found himself at the center of this infamous event, and how, over the centuries, his likeness and spirit have developed into a troubling harbinger of chaos to those in command, and rallied underdogs in the quest to speak truth to power. ...I know of no reason why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!
Poetry of Henry David Thoreau
In the spring of 1844, the sound of alarm bells pierced through the smoky air above Concord, Massachusetts; a wall of fire was moving toward the town. As the townspeople frantically beat back the conflagration with shovels and hoes and pine boughs, the rumors of who started the fire swirled as violently as the sparks in the wind. Some blamed the tutor, and some the drifter. Some accused the handyman, and others the pencil maker-- and all were correct. When the pensive and rudderless Henry David Thoreau sparked the blaze, the townspeople responded with haste, but when Thoreau was remorseless over destroying over 300 acres of beloved town forest, the people responded with rage-- and the scalding whispers in the streets of the town finally drove Henry David Thoreau to go to the woods "...to live deliberately, and to front only the essential facts of life..." Thoreau's writings from within that rustic cottage continue to resonate through the generations that have followed. His celebration of nature inspired conservationists like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, and his musings on peaceful protest influenced visionaries across the world like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi-- but in this examination of his artful poetry, we get a glimpse into the humor, the heartache, and the humanity of the complicated man who noted, "not till we are completely lost...do we begin to find ourselves".
"Remember the Ladies": Women of the American Revolution
Even older than this great nation is the flawed adage that behind every great man is a great woman, but if the origin story of the United States proves anything, it’s that our success has come not from great women behind men, but beside them. While Jefferson declared our ideals to the world, the plays and pamphlets of Mercy Otis Warren shaped public opinion among the masses that could muscle these ideals into reality. While Samuel Adams fanned the flames of outrage with his weaponized promotion of the Boston Massacre, the pensive poetry of Phillis Wheatley fostered gentility in the hearts of Patriots and Loyalists alike. Valuing the domestic and medical assistance of dutiful army wives that became “camp followers”, Generals on both sides of the Revolution constantly cautioned them out of harm’s way, but Deborah Sampson of Uxbridge, MA disguised herself as a man to serve in the elite Light Infantry of the Massachusetts 4th Regiment, bringing the fight to the Redcoats in several battles, until she was wounded in the leg while protecting her burgeoning country. Sampson then eschewed medical help and used a knife and a needle to remove a musket ball from her own leg while protecting her secret. Paul Revere may have galloped into the history books at the rhythm of a patriotic poem, but teenaged Sybil Ludington braved a tempest and rode twice the distance to muster her father’s militia to stand against the King’s Army. The uniforms of our brave Minutemen were woven by the women of this new country, just as the fabric of our nation itself has been woven by subsequent generations of brave women, standing beside brave men. As ever-prescient Abigail Adams wrote in a 1776 letter to John, “If perticular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebelion”, and so anyone who is interested in our collective rich past and a bright future would do well to “...Remember the Ladies...”. Join speaker Johnny Kinsman as he highlights the contributions and stories of these women and more in his lecture, “Remember the Ladies”; Women of the American Revolution.