As a humorist, Mark Twain despised politics with all of his heart. He once described how one man shot himself in the head; when Twain looked through the hole, he saw only grey matter.
This man happened to be a part of Congress.
To demonstrate the true morals and characteristics of Twain, Hal Holbrook took on the role of the American writer at the William Saroyan Theatre on Oct. 10-11 during Fresno’s Broadway event.
Holbrook, a famous Emmy and Tony award winner is most famous for his Mark Twain act. The birth of the idea to impersonate Twain began with a senior honors project for college. Later using the idea as a part of his act, his Twain show grew in popularity as he performed on the Ed Sullivan Show and before President Eisenhower.
Holbrook as Twain, forever the pessimist, uses black humor excessively when speaking of politics. The only exception to his dry humor came about when the actor spoke about a boy near to Twain’s heart: Huckleberry Finn.
Finn, the main character in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a boy Twain wrote about during the post-Civil War era. Twain was nearly brought to tears as he spoke about the fictional boy?s life and opinions. Twain intended Finn to demonstrate what human behavior and morals ought to embody.
?Huck is a mischievous boy, but he has a good heart,? Twain said.
Freshman English teacher Greg Stobbe is currently taking his class through a study of Finn. Step by step, the class is learning the ideas of postbellum society, which includes racial matters and liberty of belief.
“The issues Twain brings to light in the late 1800s are no different than we struggle with today,” Stobbe said. “Our relationships often are sidetracked because of power plays, hypocrisy, greed, discrimination and conformity. Do I need to say more? The fact is Christians are not immune to these and other social diseases.”
Twain never tolerated how humans treated each other inadequately because of their looks, calling this hypocritical. He likes Finn because the boy possesses an independent opinion and refuses to become a follower of the public?s view.
Twain also boldly exclaimed everyone ? or at least those who need to gain society’s approval for happiness ? is insane.
?In all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane,? Twain said. ?We get our opinions from other opinions. We do not think that we imitate others, but that is what we do.?
Twain questioned whether an original opinion has ever existed. Twain?s final proposal on the subject is humans on their own think of an idea, but will not have the notion to carry them out unless society accepts it.
For more reenactment reviews, visit Mary Hierholzer’s Oct. 3 article, Broadway veteran portrays famous poet.
