THE MINISTER’S BLACK VEIL by Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables)
APRIL 11 - MAY 18, 2014 at The Eclectic Company Theatre
Fri. - Sat. 8:00pm; Sun. 7:00pm
5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village, CA 91607
818-508-3003
Adapted for the stage by Timothy Sprague
An adaptation of the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in the 1836 editio
n of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir. It later appeared in Twice Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1837.… Set in a small Massachusetts village circa 1700, the town’s Minister, Reverend Hooper, unexpectedly shows up at Sunday service wearing a black veil over his face. This creates a stir among the townspeople, who begin to speculate about his veil and its significance. They become even more flummoxed when they realize that Reverend Hooper has no intention of removing the veil during a funeral and wedding ceremony later the same day, or ever. They eventually turn to Mr. Hooper’s fiancee, Elizabeth, to reason with him but even she cannot convince him to remove the veil or explain why he has chosen to wear it at all times. Hawthorne's tale of guilt, superstition and fear still rings true today and reminds us how much influence the attitudes of America's Puritan settlers still hold over our contemporary beliefs.
“Literary critic Edgar Allan Poe proposed that the issue of the minister's self-veiling was a mystery conceived to be solved or inferred by the reader. While Poe proposed this, Hawthorne never lets the reader know the reasoning behind the veil. While the veil is the main symbol in the story, it is also ironic. Hooper, in his stubborn use of the veil parable of one sin, is unconsciously guilty of a greater sin: that of egotistically warping the total meaning of life. In addition to standing for a man's concealment or hypocrisy and for Hooper's own sin of pride with its isolating effects, it stands also for the hidden quality of second sin.” … Wikipedia
The Eclectic Company Theatre (ECT) is a collaborative collective of actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians whose vision is to nurture individual artistic expression and to present innovative, socially relevant work to the Los Angeles theatre community. Through new works and reinterpretation of established works, the ECT explores, questions and challenges the status quo both in society and theater while striving for productions of the highest quality. This production is intended to illuminate the work of one of America's greatest authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that "Nathaniel Hawthorne's reputation as a writer is a very pleasing fact, because his writing is not good for anything, and this is a tribute to the man".[97]Henry James praised Hawthorne, saying, "The fine thing in Hawthorne is that he cared for the deeper psychology, and that, in his way, he tried to become familiar with it".[98] Poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote that he admired the "weird and subtle beauty" in Hawthorne's tales.[99]Evert Augustus Duyckincksaid of Hawthorne, "Of the American writers destined to live, he is the most original, the one least indebted to foreign models or literary precedents of any kind".[100]
