Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester MA 01608

“Creating Historical Theater: A Dramatic Reading of Sockdology”
With Jeffrey Hatcher
In partnership with the Hanover Theatre
Cost: $10 for the general public, free for Hanover and AAS members
Reserve tickets by calling: 508-471-1781

This program will feature a reading of the play Sockdology by Jeffrey Hatcher and a discussion about creating historical theater. Sockdology is a nineteenth century boxing term that means a “finishing blow” or the “brutal end of everything.” It is part of the dialogue of the play Our American Cousin and was likely the last word Abraham Lincoln heard before he was assassinated while watching this play at Ford’s Theater. Hatcher used this historical footnote to create a play about the acting troupe performing Our American Cousin and the impact Lincoln’s death had on them and the nation.

Jeffrey Hatcher is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and in theaters across the country and internationally. He wrote the play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which he later adapted into the screenplay Stage Beauty. He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of Tuesdays with Morrie with Mitch Albom. Hatcher wrote the screenplays for the films Casanova and The Duchess and has also written for the Peter Falk TV series Columbo. His other plays include Scotland Road, Three Viewings, A Picasso, and such adaptations as The Turn of the Screw, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, and The Good Soldier. Hatcher researched Sockdology as one of the first AAS Creative and Performing Artist and Writers fellows in 1995, when the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund supported the program.