A HOUSE DIVIDED Brings Political Drama To The Lied Center

The Lied Center will present the world premiere production of A House Divided, a new play by Christina Kirk. 

Based on real events, this compelling work examines the distressing choices faced by Abraham Lincoln that threatened to unravel his family and the country during a week in 1863 when Mary Todd Lincoln's half-sister, Emilie Todd Helm, visits the White House. Helm, a fiercely loyal Confederate, refuses to pledge allegiance to the Union when trying to cross the border to return to Kentucky after her Confederate husband's death in battle. Unsure of what else to do, Lincoln suggests the soldiers send her to the White House. 

A House Divided will be at the Lied Center's Carson Theater for 7 performances on Tuesday, September 17- Sunday, September 22. Live webcast tickets are available for the performance on Saturday, September 21 at 7:30pm. Get tickets at liedcenter.org, (402) 472-4747, and at the Lied Center box office.

In addition to the performances, the following related events will also be offered:

A HOUSE DIVIDED: PAGE TO STAGE

In partnership with Lincoln City Libraries

Monday, September 16 at Noon

Bennett Martin Library

FREE admission

A Panel Discussion: The Creation & History of 'A House Divided'

Panelists: Christina Kirk (Playwright), Kent Joseph (portraying Abraham Lincoln), Wali Jamal (portraying William Slade), and Dr. Kenneth J. Winkle (Civil War Scholar)

AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR: THEN AND NOW LECTURE BY JEREMI SURI, PhD, RENOWNED HISTORIAN AND CELEBRATED AUTHOR 

Wednesday, October 9 at 7:00pm 

Ethel S. Abott Auditorium at Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska - Lincoln 

FREE ADMISSION

This free lecture by Jeremi Suri, PhD, from University of Texas-Austin, will provide a thought-provoking presentation related to A House Divided and the legacy of the Civil War. This event is presented in partnership with the Sheldon Museum of Art and is connected to the world-premiere production of the play A House Divided. Dr. Jeremi Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on contemporary politics and foreign policy, most recently Civil War By Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy. He also hosts the weekly This is Democracy podcast, which illuminates ways in which the past offers hope for the present and the future, if only we can escape the negativity of our current moment. Dr. Suri will share insights from his scholarship on the Civil War, including historical divisions in the U.S., and connections to current affairs. 

A HOUSE DIVIDED, POLITICS TODAY AND AMERICAN HISTORY A PANEL DISCUSSION REFLECTING ON THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL WAR AND TODAY'S DIVIDE IN THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 9, 2024, NOON 

Lied Commons at Lied Center for Performing Arts 

FREE ADMISSION

This diverse panel featuring University of Nebraska experts joined by Nebraska representatives and celebrated author Jeremi Suri, PhD will be facilitated by Dr. Will Thomas, Angle Chair in the Humanities and Professor of History at the University of Nebraska.

About the Playwright

Christina Kirk is a tenured professor in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at UNL. She served as Director of the Carson School and as the Executive Director of Nebraska Repertory Theatre from 2019-2022. Previously, Kirk was Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Otterbein University where she had taught since 1992. Her directing credits include The Living Theatre; New Dramatists; assisting Liviu Ciulei at Arena Stage; and numerous productions for Otterbein University Theatre and Otterbein Summer Theatre. She began her career at Nebraska Repertory Theatre, performing in Something's Afoot and Charlie's Aunt. More recently she performed the role of Linda in Death of a Salesman and directed A Midsummer Night's Dream for Nebraska Repertory Theatre. She has also performed at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, the Illinois Repertory Theatre, CATCO, and in the Joseph Jefferson award winning Kabuki Medea, directed by Shozo Sato. Her one woman show, Conversations with Judith Malina, was featured in the March 2006 Theatre Journal. She is also a contributing author for two theatre texts: The Art of Directing, co-authored with John W. Kirk and Ralph Bellas, and Acting in the Space Between, by John W. Kirk. She has an M.F.A. in Directing from Columbia University in the city of New York and a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

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