Thomas Jefferson: Lifelong Learner
The Founding Father in his own words and now on screen at the Lantern. Plus, an interactive quiz.
Now appearing in Lantern Theater Company’s digital premiere production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord — a new take on the company’s 2017 smash hit play and streaming on demand January 11 through February 27, 2022 — Thomas Jefferson is probably the title figure best known to audiences. His name appears on hospitals, a university, and a subway stop in Philadelphia. His marble figure rises above the Potomac in Washington, D.C., and his face is carved into Mount Rushmore. He wrote the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, served as ambassador to France, and became President of the United States in 1801. The highlights of his career are well-remembered from coast-to-coast, as is his lifelong search for knowledge.
During the 2017 run of the Lantern’s original stage production, audiences got an inside view of Jefferson when two experts on the Founding Father’s writing participated in an In Conversation event: Dr. John Van Horne, director emeritus of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and Dr. Charles T. Cullen, interim president and chief executive officer of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Jefferson was born in 1743 at Shadwell in Virginia, just across the river from what would one day be Monticello, Jefferson’s self-designed estate — which was home to about 400 of the 600 people Jefferson enslaved during his lifetime. He freed just 10 of these people, all members of the Hemings family.
Jefferson was well-educated; as Dr. Cullen noted, he was fascinated by “everything from astrology to zoology,” as reflected in his 6,000-volume personal library, which eventually formed the basis of the Library of Congress. By the time he was 40, Jefferson had studied, practiced, and retired from law; served in the Virginia Legislature, the Continental Congress, and as Governor of Virginia; and drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. He had Monticello built. He married Martha and was widowed. And this was only the first half of his life; the second half included his service as Secretary of State, Vice President, and President of the United States.
Throughout this very public life, Jefferson also worked in private to explore and refine his own religious beliefs, which he was reticent to discuss in public. He refused to teach his children what to believe, and neither of his two versions of the life of Jesus were published during his lifetime.
Much of this is reflected in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord. Early in the talk, Dr. Van Horne noted how thoroughly researched the play is, calling it a strong depiction of Jefferson’s thinking. He also contrasted this play’s Jefferson with another theatrical version: Daveed Diggs’ more gregarious and much-loved interpretation in Hamilton.
Much of the dialogue in The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord comes directly from Jefferson’s own writing. As Dr. Van Horne pointed out, “describing himself as a sect unto himself, ‘If a neighbor worships 20 gods or none, it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg,’ and characterizing the Trinity as hocus pocus” are taken verbatim from Jefferson’s own hand. One of Dr. Van Horne’s favorite lines, though, was invented by playwright Scott Carter, and invokes another major Philadelphia figure: “I can accept electricity without worshiping Benjamin Franklin.”
“Well, he did worship Benjamin Franklin,” Dr. Cullen noted. “Yes, he did,” agreed Dr. Van Horne, chuckling.
Jefferson was always learning and hypothesizing. Dr. Cullen called Jefferson “a lifelong student, constantly studying and trying to live by what he learned.” He also noted that this insatiable thirst for knowledge can make Jefferson’s personal beliefs hard to pin down. “The key to Jefferson that I’ve come to believe over time — and I’ve been reading his mail for a long time — was that you can’t lock Jefferson in a box,” Dr. Cullen told the audience. “His mind did not get fixed and never change.”
The Quiz
The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord was filmed at St. Stephen’s Theater in Center City Philadelphia in July 2021 with strict adherence to all CDC, state, and local health and safety guidelines, and is streaming on demand January 11 through February 27, 2022. Visit our website for tickets and information.
