Wallace Shawn: Night Thoughts

This show features a dramatic and emotional reading by writer/actor Wallace Shawn of an excerpt from Night Thoughts. According to Shawn, the world is divided between the lucky and the unlucky. His book-length essay is, in part, an apology for being a lucky, privileged American. However, his imagination leads him to an optimistic proposal – we could use the forgotten tools of civilization to inspire us to stop exploiting the unlucky and poisoning the planet. Does our salvation rest in the soul-expanding appreciation of ignored works of great literature, music, theatre and art?

Note: This conversation originally aired on August 10, 2017.

Photo by Sean Dellorco