Skip to Main Content
Loading Events
All Events
  • This event has passed.
Event Series Event Series: Poor Herman

Poor Herman

Arts and Culture, History and Heritage, Performing Arts & Entertainment

August 2 | 8:00 am - 5:00 pm - Daily

Free – $25

Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851.  The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the aftermath of Moby Dick’s initial failure with critics and readers. The play gives voice to the unsung people in his life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history.

See Poor Herman at Herman Melville's Arrowhead

Venue Details:

Berkshire County Historical Society at Arrowhead

780 Holmes Road
Pittsfield, MA 01201 United States
Phone:
(413) 442-1793

Host Details:

Berkshire County Historical Society at Arrowhead

Phone:
(413) 442-1793
Email:
melville@berkshirehistory.org
Host Website

Upcoming Events in Series

Website:
Event Website

Upcoming events

Visit the holiday craft fair at Lanesborough Local
Holiday Craft Market
December 15 | 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Mount Greylock in the summer by Michelle MurphyMount Greylock in the summer by Michelle Murphy
Nature Scavenger Hunt
December 15 | 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Bright sun shines through tall pine trees
Fauna and Flora of Mahanna Cobble
December 15 | 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
free viewfinding photography class at the Clark
Free Viewfinding Photography Workshop
December 15 | 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Berkshire Guide

Adventure Awaits

in the Berkshires

Find inspiration for future travel with the 2024-25 Guide to the Berkshires! A year-round, comprehensive resources.