Darwin and Melville
At Guild Hall
The John Drew Theater Lab will present a free staged reading of “The Ape and the Whale: An Interplay Between Darwin and Melville in Their Own Words” on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
While Darwin and Melville never met, Barbara Novak, formerly the Altschul professor of art history at Barnard College and Columbia University, drew upon their letters, reports, journals, and books to construct the conversation they might have had if their paths had crossed.
Among the issues that engaged both men were the geography and science of the Galapagos, the people of the South Pacific, God, nature, madness, and immortality.
Gerard Doyle and David McElwee will portray the protagonists; James Larocca will direct.