Dr. Fred Zilian, Dean of Faculty, International Student Advisor and History teacher, will perform his one-man play, "Honest Abe," on Tuesday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m. in the School Auditorium. There will be no admission charge and all members of the Abbey community, along with the general public, are welcome.
Dr. Zilian wrote the play in 1997 and has performed it several times. Last year, he presented the play at Newport's historic Redwood Library and Athenaeum. The six-act play takes the audience from September 1862, when Lincoln is struggling with the issue of emancipation, until his death in April 1865. The performance will run approximately 50 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A between Dr. Zilian and the audience. Dr. Zilian will perform the play with the help of several Abbey students.
Dr. Zilian indicated that it was no surprise to him that in a list of "The 100 Most Influential Americans" published in 2006 by The Atlantic Monthly, a team of historians placed Lincoln at the top. "Though he led the country as our 16th President close to 150 years ago, Lincoln speaks to us as eloquently today as he did then," said Dr. Zilian. "Furthermore, he reminded us of the high ideals that drove our founding fathers and of the unfinished work before the nation - work that is still incomplete, that, in truth, may never fully be finished."
Dr. Zilian is on the Advisory Board of the state's R.I. Bicentennial Commission and acted as Lincoln at the state's bicentennial kick-off on November 20 at the R.I. Statehouse, marking the start of a year-long series of events to commemorate Lincoln's life.
Read more about the words of Dr. Zilian and Lincoln:
http://www.projo.com/ri/portsmouth/content/sc_honestabe_01-31-08_5I8MT4A_v48.37ef2ee.html
http://www.jamestownpress.com/news/2008/0131/Walrus_says/
