In-Person & Virtual

Saturday, October 7 at 5:30pm - Reflecting on Harriet: Playwright Kyle Bass in Conversation (In-Person)

Prolific playwright Kyle Bass comes to The Mark Twain House & Museum to discuss the HartBeat Ensemble production of his play, Possessing Harriet. His new play tells the true story of Harriet Powell, a young mixed-race, enslaved woman who escapes her owners at a hotel. A formerly enslaved Underground Railroad conductor her to the home of an impassioned abolitionist, who is hosting his young cousin Elizabeth Cady (yes! before she was a Stanton!), a women’s rights advocate. In the 90 minutes before her nighttime escape to Canada, Harriet confronts new ideas about race, gender and equality as she answers the tragic question: What will she give up for freedom?

Kyle will be in conversation with Hartford native Channon Miller, Trinity College Assistant Professor of History and American Studies. They’ll discuss the play’s investigation of the interior and exterior lives of black women during slavery, and the tragic choice between freedom and leaving family many had to make.

Tickets for Reflecting on Harriet: Playwright Kyle Bass in Conversation are $5. Virtual livestream is FREE. To register CLICK HERE.

Attendees who purchase ticket to this event will receive a discount code for $5 off tickets to Possessing Harriet via their confirmation email. On Saturday, October 7, there are performances at 2pm and 8pm at HartBeat Ensemble's Carriage House Theatre, located directly across the street from The Mark Twain House. Guests attending the lecture program are encouraged to park in our lot and attend the matinee or evening performance that day.

To get more information about Possessing Harriet and other Reflecting on Harriet special events, CLICK HERE.

Funding for this event is provided in part by CT Humanities.

Next Week

Tuesday, October 10 at 7pm ET - Mary C. Shanklin on AMERICAN CASTLE: One Hundred Years of Mar-a-Lago with Bill Shaffer (Virtual)

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE.

Wednesday, October 11 at 7pm ET - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Donna Harrington-Lucker on BOOKS FOR IDLE HOURS: Nineteenth-Century Publishing and the Rise of Summer Reading (Virtual)

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE.

In-Person Event:

R-RATED TWAIN

Thursday, October 19 at 6:30pm ET - R-RATED TWAIN featuring Sea Tea Improv! (In-Person)

The Mark Twain House & Museum and Sea Tea improv will be heating up the chilly autumn night with R-RATED TWAIN! Featuring some of Mark Twain’s spiciest, salacious, and shocking works that span topics not fit to print (or even say in public). Included in the naughty hilarity is a short comedy, Mark Twain: Ladies Man, by playwright David Ryan Polgar. Be prepared to blush, leave the kids at home, and wash your ears out with soap!

This event is also the FINAL of the head-to-head battles in our “Hartford on the Rocks” mixology competitions. All attendees will be able to taste both cocktails created especially for this competition.

• The “Hartford on the Rocks” Cocktail Reception will start at 6:30pm
• Auditorium doors will open at 7:30pm
• The R-Rated Show will start at 8:00pm

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE.

Have Your Special Occasion at a Historic Destination

Make our historic Carriage Barn your space for gatherings!

From intimate gatherings to larger celebrations, the Carriage Barn can accommodate a wide range of events. It's equally well-suited for meetings, workshops, and team-building exercises!

For information, please call our Special Events Manager, Pamela Amodio, at (860) 280-3117.

To learn more about our rental spaces, CLICK HERE.

Upcoming Events

V = Virtual Event; IP = In-Person Event

October 4 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Work and Play in Mark Twain's Creative Process with Dr. Kerry Driscoll (IP & V)

October 7 - HartBeat Ensemble's Reflecting on Harriet: Possessing Harriet Playwright Kyle Bass in Conversation (IP)

October 10 - America's Castle: One Hundred Years of Mar-a-Lago with Mary C. Shanklin (V)

October 11 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: The Phenomenon of Summer Reading with Donna Harrington-Lueker (V)

October 17 - The Hidden Language of Cats: How They Have Us at Meow with Sarah Brown (V)

October 19 - R-RATED TWAIN with Sea Tea Improv (IP)

October 23 - Before the Gilded Age: W.W. Corcoran and the Rise of American Capitalism and Culture with Mark L. Goldstein

October 25 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Lurking, There, in the Underbrush: The Gilded Age in the Adirondacks with Robert Engel (IP & V)

October 26 - Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls with Kai Cheng Thom (IP)

October 30 - Modern Occultism: History, Theory, and Practice with Mitch Horowitz (V)

November 3 - The Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Celebration Dinner with David Baldacci (IP)

November 8 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: The House that Trudeau Built with Chessie Monks-Kelly (IP & V)

November 9 - The Spectacular - A Novel with Fiona Davis & Ann Leary (IP)

November 27 - Class with Stephanie Land (V)

November 27 - THE TROUBLE BEGINS: Gravity - Selected Letters of Olivia Langdon Clemens with Barbara Snedecor (IP & V)

December 14 - Ghost Hunters Adam Berry & Steve Gonsalves (IP)

December 16 - GET A CLUE Tours (IP)

To see all event information and registration, CLICK HERE.

To preorder books for our upcoming events, CLICK HERE. Signed books will be mailed after the event. Please note that we cannot ship outside of the U.S. at this time.

Your donation to The Mark Twain House & Museum helps us meet our mission to preserve the home and legacy of Mark Twain. Thank you for your generosity!

Support the House