Jefferson, Adams will come to life in constitutional debate at Civic Center

FARMINGTON — Imagine Thomas Jefferson and John Adams competing against each other as contestants on a TV game show — complete with a Benjamin Franklin Lightning Round – and you begin to get an idea of what to expect from the “History Comes to Life” production scheduled this weekend at the Farmington Civic Center.

That’s how Philadelphia actor and scholar Steve Edenbo, who portrays Jefferson in the production, describes the show, which features Peyton Dixon as Adams. The two men appear onstage in period costumes and in the personas of America’s third and second presidents, respectively, while debating the finer points of the U.S. Constitution.

But this is no dry, long-winded, academic exercise that requires a spectator to possess a law or history degree to enjoy it. Edenbo said “History Comes to Life” has been developed with flexibility in mind, allowing him and Dixon to tailor the show for a variety of audiences ranging from middle schools students to bar associations to general-interest audiences, such as the one that will witness this weekend’s program.

“Trading speeches is what we try to avoid,” Edenbo said, noting that the presentation relies heavily on snappy, quick-witted interaction between Adams and Jefferson, who were friends as well as frequent political rivals, leaving plenty of room for improvisation. The show moves along at a brisk pace, with the tension building steadily, as a quiz show is designed to do.

Edenbo doesn’t just dress and act the part of Jefferson. He’s essentially been living it for nearly a quarter century, and his striking physical resemblance to Jefferson is just the start of the way he has crawled inside the skin of the man credited with being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Since taking on the role of Jefferson 24 years ago for American Historical Theatre, the Philadelphia-based company that offers touring presentations that cover more than 100 historical figures and a variety of programs, Edenbo has immersed himself in all things Jefferson, even earning a fellowship at one point to spend a month studying at Monticello, Jefferson’s Virginia home.

Still, his appetite for learning more about Jefferson is unsated. Even when he returns home from the road and has to catch up on such mundane tasks as walking his dog or doing his laundry, Edenbo said he usually multitasks by listening to books on tape about Jefferson.

“I can never possibly know enough,” he said. “The further into the forest you go, the bigger the trees get.”

Edenbo said it never occurred him that he looked like Jefferson before the folks at American Historical Theatre offered him the role. But once he pulled on Jefferson’s breeches, he realized he had found his calling.

“I fell in love with the work right away,” he said. “I loved the depth of learning that was required but also possible.”

Edenbo said the experience has acquainted him with an Italian school of thought that essentially advocates for the idea of an actor portraying one role for most of his or her life.

“They think you’re not adept until you’ve done it for about four years,” he explained.

Edenbo said he responded right away to the task of bringing Jefferson back to life for generations of Americans who are living 200 years after his death.

“Early on, everything struck chords with me — the complexity, the challenges, the amalgam of theater and scholarship. It’s a unique subfacet of theater.”

Nevertheless, portraying Jefferson for such an extended period has left Edenbo with some mixed feelings — much more so, he said, than if he had been playing Adams or even George Washington. Jefferson was a complex man with many shades of gray in his personal and political lives, Edenbo said, and that seems to have made him more and more of a lightning rod in a deeply divided modern-day America.

“With Jefferson specifically, he’s one of those perpetual sources of frustration and inspiration,” Edenbo said. “He’s in the middle of every national conversation. Jefferson’s always coming up, and he’s always a flashpoint.”

Edenbo has little patience with those who take a view of Jefferson that leans too far one way or another in the service of a political or social perspective. He believes the admirable and not-so-admirable qualities America’s third president displayed during his lifetime simply were part of the equation that makes him a fascinating historical figure, one whose life continues to warrant close examination and discussion.

“It’s a constantly renewing opportunity to take part in this conversation of when the past is speaking to us — and the other way around,” he said.

Jefferson becomes a subject of even greater interest when his often-troubled relationship with Adams is considered, Edenbo said. The two men, who began that relationship as great friends and comrades, found themselves bitterly opposed on many issues after the American Revolution. But late in life, they conducted an extended correspondence that allowed that rupture to be healed.

Edenbo believes there’s a great lesson to be learned from that, characterizing the two men as “rival friends.”

“They figured it out,” he said, describing how Jefferson and Adams finally found common ground again after years of estrangement. “They didn’t live in their own echo chamber like so many Americans do now. They sought each other out despite the tension between the friendship and the disagreements. That’s what’s so fascinating and useful about studying their relationship.”

“History Comes to Life” will be featured at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13 at the Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St. Adult tickets are $18, while tickets for students, seniors and veterans are $14. Call 505-599-1145.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com.

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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Actor Steve Edenbo in 24th year of portraying Thomas Jefferson