Denison: 'The Traveller Returned'

The Department of Theatre presents "The Traveller Returned" by Judith Sargent Murray, adapted by Mark Evans Bryan. The play takes place at 8 p.m. on Friday, and Saturday, Nov. 11 and 12, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13 and at 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday, November 15, 16 and 17. First performed on March 9, 1796, "The Traveler Returned" is a comedy about mistaken identities and a family reunion. A prominent eighteenth-century American writer, Judith Sargent Murray was an early proponent of women's rights and a contributing influence on the emerging theater of the post-Revolutionary era. Long forgotten after her lifetime, Murray has been rediscovered in recent years, and new editions of her major works have appeared. An intelligent and wide-ranging thinker and a prolific writer, Murray left a body of work that offers insights into post-Revolutionary history and culture. Liberal, if not radical, in much of her thinking, Murray challenged many prevailing opinions about the roles and rights of women and the uses of the theater.