This blog was written by Historian, Beth Miller as part of our on-going series featuring the women of An Education in Prudence and the history behind the show. Prudence Crandall was born in on September 3, 1803 to Pardon and Esther Crandall. She and her family lived in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, until Pardon moved the family to Canterbury in 1830. Pardon Crandall was a farmer, who was a Quaker and who believed in education for all of his children. Prudence attended the Friend’

This blog was written by Historian, Beth Miller as part of our on-going series featuring the history behind the show and how it came to be. A feminist awakening led me back to try college for a third time to major in Women’s Studies. My first class was WS 101, a survey course that covered much, in brief. My professor told us about Prudence Crandall who in a letter to William Lloyd Garrison penned on January 18, 1833 asked his opinion on “exchanging” her “white students for

Soon after meeting Dustin, I met the whole Open Theatre Project (OTP) Board. They were enthusiastic about my play, but had one question: was I open to continue working on it? Sure, I said. I was open. Though, I didn’t know how or how much more I could be. Over three years, I had written in, then written out sixteen characters, different beginnings and endings, different ways to use time, and more. Soon, OTP organized a table reading, with a talented group of actors assembled

After that first, critical meeting with Beth , I plunged into writing what would eventually become An Education in Prudence. With a day job and three young children, I woke at 5, and worked until one of them tumbled downstairs. Those early days, I was excited, hopeful, optimistic – the way I always am beginning a new project. That October, I organized a reading at the Playwrights’ Platform – a tough love group that doesn’t hesitate to say what’s working and what isn’t. It was

Get to know how OTP's An Education in Prudence came to be with this 3 part blog series from Playwright, Stefan Lanfer. In March, 2013, I was at a work event at the Barr Foundation – when a complete stranger crossed the crowded room, making a beeline for me. “ “Hi, I’m Beth,” she said, “I hear you’re a playwright.” “I am,” I said. “How can I help?” “There’s this story,” she said, “that has gripped me since grad school. I’ve always imagined it on stage. Can we talk?” “OK,” I sa