A Road Scholar Program by Jennifer Shook

This multimedia presentation examines contemporary appearances of the beloved stovepipe-hatted president in unlikely places: musicals, Pulitzer Award-winning plays about card hustlers by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, episodes of The Simpson’s, and in ads for sleep medications. Just how does Lincoln’s legacy play out for artists and audiences now? What is the relationship between recent historical findings and new representations of Abraham Lincoln? And, how do these representations shape our perceptions of Lincoln’s legacy? Jennifer Shook is the Artistic Director of Caffeine Theatre, where she recently directed Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy , Lorca’s Dona Rosita , and Eliot’s The Cocktail Party . She teaches dramaturgy and theatre history at Columbia College Chicago and holds degrees from the University of Chicago, Swarthmore College, and University College Galway. Jennifer has spoken for a variety of audiences with topics ranging from modernist poetry to folklore and from Ibsen to Guantanamo.

This event is Free and Open to the public. For more information, please contact.Mark Johnson, 847.455.6016.