Learn about the powerful tradition of documentary theater—also known as verbatim theater—which transforms real-world dialogue and events into compelling stage scripts. Examine how this genre uses actual interviews and historical records to tackle complex social issues and tragedies, offering multiple perspectives rather than taking a single side. We’ll first consider how groundbreaking works such as Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror (1992) and Moisés Kaufman’s The Laramie Project (2000), paved the way, both utilizing extensive interviews to explore community tensions, violence, and healing. Then we’ll zero in on Theaterworks’ multi-media production about the devastating Hartford circus fire of 1944, in which “two communities – Hartford and the Circus – find themselves irretrievably intertwined by tragedy, blame, heroism and healing.” Join Presidents’ College Director Michele Troy for a stimulating discussion of what happens when theater takes up the subject of history—and, indeed, this time, history so close to home.
Michele K. Troy is Presidents’ College director and professor of English at Hillyer College, where she has taught since 2001. Her book, Strange Bird: The Albatross Press and the Third Reich, appeared with Yale University Press in 2017, followed by a German translation in 2022. In 2019, she received a Fulbright to Germany to pursue two other projects which explore Anglo-American books abroad: an in-depth look at the German book trade under the American Occupation, 1945-1949, with the University of Mainz; and research into Seven Seas Books, which produced English-language paperbacks out of East Berlin in the 1950s and 1960s. She is currently researching how particular European publishing networks were used to advance political ends in 1930s Europe and into the war.
Jacques Lamarre is a Hartford-area playwright and arts marketing professional. TheaterWorks Hartford has staged the world premieres of his plays I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, Raging Skillet, Secondo, and, coming in April/May 2026, Circus Fire. Regional theatre credits include Playhouse on Park, Seven Angels, George Street, Asolo Rep, Florida Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Greater Boston Stage, Philly Fringe, Emerson Theatre Collaborative, Zeitgeist Stage, and more. Jacques writes for drag superstar Varla Jean Merman (their latest, The Drowsy Chappell Roan, comes to TheaterWorks in March 2026). He has co-written three drag shows currently running in Puerto Vallarta: Miss Conception’s Make America Gay Again, Sutton Lee Seymour’s Super Ma’am, and DIVA’s High Notes, Low Standards. Jacques is the Chief Creative Officer for BuzzEngine and serves on the boards of the Hartt School and CT Humanities. He is the recipient of the Tom Killen Award for Lifetime Achievement in Connecticut Theatre from the CT Critics Circle, the Kid at Heart Award from Hartford Children’s Theatre, the Bring It Home Award for Connecticut Tourism, and an award from HartBeat Ensemble for his commitment to building diverse audiences.
Jared Mezzocchi is a two-time Obie Award-winning theater artist, working as a director, multimedia designer, playwright, and actor. Based out of New York, Mezzocchi’s work has appeared at notable theaters, including Geffen Playhouse, Vineyard Theater, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights horizons, Theaterworks Hartford, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth (company member), and many more. In 2020, The New York Times spotlighted his multimedia innovations alongside the pandemic work of four others, including Andrew Lloyd Webber and Paula Vogel. Mezzocchi is a two-time MacDowell Artist Fellow, a 2012 Prince Grace Award–winner, and recently retired from The University of Maryland where he taught projection and multimedia in the MFA Design Program. During the pandemic, Mezzocchi founded Virtual Design Collective (VIDCO), which aided the development of over 50 new digital works over 18 months. This year, he will finish his book, A Multimedia Designer’s Method to Theatrical Storytelling with Routledge.
Lectures: Mondays, Apr. 27, May 4 | 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m. | KF Room/Harrison Libraries | $40 for lectures only
Production: Sunday, May 3 | Discussion with playwright, 1:30 p.m. | Theaterworks show, 2:30 p.m. | $65 for lectures + ticket
Made possible in part by the generosity of the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
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