Part One:  The Dazzling Dozen In 1996, I published an article titled "Exploiting the Medium: Mesmerism and the Strange Case of Anna Cora...

Part III - Seriously Merry (A full cast recording of "The Serious Family" is available at Librivox) In 1849, comedian-turned-playwright...

Part II -- Seriously Manic Before we begin in earnest, I must warn you that my opinions of the relative merits of “Le Mari à la Campagne”...

PART ONE - SERIOUSLY CLASSIC The spring of 1852 was one of the saddest, most challenging times of Anna Cora Mowatt’s life. Her husband,...

Was Anna Cora Mowat one of "Poe’s Women?" When researching a fairly obscure historical figure like Anna Cora Mowatt, it is usually very...

PART I: INTRIGUING, BUT LESS THAN GROUND-BREAKING Originally posted on March 6, 2023 [A recording of this play is available at Librivox]...

PART II: THE PROPER PAYMENT OF CLERKS Originally posted December 19, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for...

PART I: THE CHARACTER OF CLERKS Originally posted Dec. 1, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for viewing on...

PART III: ANNA CORA STRIKES GOLD AS MARTHA Originally posted Nov. 21, 2022 Martha Gibbs, the pure-hearted heroine of J. Maddison Morton’s...

PART II: GLITTERING IN ENGLAND Originally posted Nov. 7, 2022 [A full cast recording of this play is available atLibrivox ] “All that...

PART I: JOHN MADDISON MORTON AND HIS OTHER PLAY Originally posted Oct. 24, 2022 In any well-rounded streaming service that delivers...

PART IV: THE PUSHBACK Originally posted September 5, 2022 I know that I’ve been building to the negative reaction to Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

PART III: PUBLICATION Originally posted August 22, 2022 Although January of 1856 is usually listed as the publication date of Mimic Life,...

PART II: THE PUSH Originally published August 8, 2022 [Given the response to my last entry, I am somewhat tempted to take a short...

PART I: THE PREP Originally posted July 25, 2022 Among the reasons why it is a good thing that I am no longer in the classroom is that I...

PART IV -- IN SICKNESS AND IN WEALTH: MEN, MONEY, AND ILLNESS IN MOWATT'S NARRATIVES [CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE] Originally posted June...

PART III -- LOVE, SEX, AND HEROES Originally posted June 6, 2022 The truth is the majority of people don’t really care about history. ...

PART II -- MOWATT, MEN, AND VILLANY Originally posted May 23, 2022 If you pick up a book about popular culture in the 19th century in the...

PART I: MOWATT'S WOMEN Originally posted May 9, 2022 A Master’s thesis is really a horrid sort of little document. In the Humanities,...

A MERRY MANUSCRIPT WITH A BIT OF A MYSTERY Originally posted April 18, 2022 Of all the plays authored by Walter Watts I have written...