To mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, The BRAVO! is presenting a special one-man play reading of “Tom Paine’s Bones” on Friday, July 3, at 4 p.m. Lakeside actor Mark Donaldson takes on the role of Thomas Paine, the influential Founding Father whose revolutionary pamphlets helped ignite the American Revolution.
This staged reading is part of The BRAVO!’s Play Development Series, which offers audiences the chance to experience new works and provide direct feedback to the playwright to help shape the final script.
“The No Good Deeds of Founder Thomas Paine” was written by lakeside resident Jeffrey J. Smith, the play has been a long time in the making. “When I was editor of a publication, we had a space for quotes, so we were always on the lookout,” Smith recalled. “Whenever Paine popped up in the search, what he said always resonated. Not remembering enough about him from high school, I read the biographies in the public library. Everyone who has ever done that has said, ‘his life ought to be a movie.’ The work you will see has evolved over the years from movie script, to mini-series, to the one-man play you will see.”
Paine’s pamphlets “Common Sense” and “The American Crisis” framed the moral and political case for independence at the outset of the American Revolution. As John Adams famously observed: “Without the pen of Paine, Washington’s sword would have been wielded in vain.”
There will be just one performance, so don’t miss it.
The BRAVO! is located at Hidalgo 441 in Riberas del Pilar (just west of S&S Auto). Tickets are 200 pesos and available via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..