The Arkansas Repertory Theatre works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting educational panel discussions on various Rep productions.

The latest in these takes place today, Thursday, January 22 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man.

Arkansas Repertory Theatre producing artistic director, Bob Hupp, will host a panel discussion on the upcoming production of The Whipping Man, winner of the 2011 John Gassner New Play Award from the NY Outer Critics Circle and becoming one of the most produced plays in the country.

In this post-Civil War drama, a Jewish confederate officer, Caleb DeLeon, returns from the war, badly wounded, to find his family missing and only two former slaves remaining, Simon and John, the two men who are forced to care for him. As Caleb, Simon and John wait for the family’s return, they wrestle with their shared past as master and slave, digging up long-buried family secrets, as well as new ones. The Whipping Man is critically acclaimed drama full of loyalty, deceit, and deliverance.

Join members of the production team as they discuss this chilling play selected for the Halloween season.

The Whipping Man opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, February 8.