Mark Twain Tonight by Hal Holbrook

¶ … man shows media has ever produced and, in any case, the original product of the genre, Mark Twain Tonight! with Hal Holbrook had an estimated thirty million viewers tuned in on March 6, 1967

and the show itself has already been performed, according to Hal Holbrook himself, for more than 2,000 times

In my opinion, it is by far the best impression of actually meeting Mark Twain that one may receive and "for many, Holbrook has become the "voice" of Mark Twain"

The first argument in defense of this statement is the fact that Holbrook has chosen to tell the story as an old man who remembers writing a certain book and thus developing the novels with which we have become so familiar. We can almost feel that we are sitting in Mark Twain's garden and are listening to his stories over a nice glass of lemonade.

There are three acts in "Mark Twain Tonight!." The first act starts with some of Mark Twain's thoughts and beliefs on the new achievements of the 19th century, most notably the railway, as well as some of the life's pleasures, most important, smoking. As part of the audience, when never knows whether to believe that Mark Twain is right in front of them as a stand-up comedian or that Hal Holbrook is the stand-up comedian or what ... Holbrook is extremely keen in changing his tone, his presentation and he has a certain way of giving you the impression he may, at times, become the character and writer himself.

The second act revolves around Huckleberry Finn, including some reading from the book itself. The act itself is as controversial as the book itself and makes keen reference to slavery and aspects of racism. As we are aware, Mark Twain has been accused of addressing the slavery issue too lightly, with a negative touch on the Africa-American characters in his book. This impression was given by Jim's negative image and by the sometimes ironic and caustic comments Mark Twain himself makes.

In my opinion, the Huck Finn part in Holbrook's show is the best way to decide whether the accusations are true or not. I chose to believe it was not, mainly because of the ironic commentaries that are made on slavery itself and of the general attitude towards slavery that Holbrook lets us believe Mark Twain may have had.

Finally, the third act has two significant pillars, a ghost story from the "Golden Arm" and a part from "Life on the Mississippi," as well as a brief completion with a passage seemingly adapted from "Two Years Before the Mast."