NHA News - Recent Press Releases

July 7, 2011

He’s Back!

MOBY-DICK REHEARSED Staged reading of Orson Welles’s play at Whaling Museum July 11 & 12 as part of four-day Moby-Dick celebration

NANTUCKET, Mass.: Moby-Dick Rehearsed, Orson Welles’ one-act play starring John Shea as Captain Ahab, will be presented as a staged reading on Monday, July 11, and Tuesday, July 12, at 7 P.M., under the skeleton of the sperm whale at the Whaling Museum, 15 Broad Street.

Written by Welles in 1950, the play within a play is presented in celebration of the 160th anniversary of Herman Melville’s masterpiece of American literature by the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, the Nantucket Historical Association, the African Meeting House, and the Nantucket Atheneum. Admission is $25; tickets may be purchased at the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket box office at 2 Centre Street; online or by phone at 508-228-4305.

Three additional programs will be offered as part of the four-day Moby-Dick celebration:

• Lecture and Open House at the African Meeting House. “Pulling the Oars. People of Color on Nantucket’s Whaleships,” by Dr. Frances Karttunen, Saturday, July 9, at 2 P.M. Free. Light refreshments to follow.



• Author Talk at the Great Hall, Nantucket Atheneum. “Herman Melville and Moby-Dick,” by Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, who will discuss Melville’s years at sea and how they influenced his writing, Sunday, July 10, at 5 P.M. Free.



• The Hidden Museum: Behind-the-Scenes at the NHA Research Library. The library staff will open the vault for a special; viewings of manuscripts, illustrations, and other materials related to Melville and Moby-Dick, Tuesday, July 12, 11 A.M.–Noon. Free for NHA members, $15 for nonmembers. To register, contact (508) 228-1894, ext. 0.