You've done the walk, now hear the whole tale! Centenary Stage Company presents a staged reading of PEW Fellow Jeanne Murray Walker’s play The Tillie Project. Commissioned by Centenary Stage Company in 2002 under the auspices of CSC’s distinguished Women Playwrights Series, The Tillie Project is the result of an 18-month research and development process including several town hall-style meetings and radio call-in programs, where community members were invited to share their own knowledge of the event. Additionally, Walker consulted with numerous historians, pored over documented first-hand accounts, combed through newspaper articles from the period, and meticulously scrutinized the actual transcript of the trial that ultimately led to the conviction and sentencing of James Titus. Although a work of historical fiction, The Tillie Project keeps true to its source material and at times borrows directly from the trial transcript.
Directly following the reading of The Tillie Project, Centenary Stage Company will host a talkback with special guest author, Maryann McFadden. A Northwest New Jersey resident and Tillie expert herself, McFadden just completed her fourth novel, The Cemetery Keeper's Wife, to be released in 2018. The historical novel is about the murder of Tillie Smith in 1886, which ignited a tide of outrage throughout Victorian America.
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Centenary Stage Company
Centenary Stage Company is a performing arts center located on the campus of Centenary University. Year-round events include Professinal Theater Series, music events, dance events, a Women Playwrights Series, Young Performers Workshop, an annual holiday spectatular, and more!