The Report of My Death: A Mark Twain One-Man Play Premieres Aboard the Historic Lilac
New York director and playwright Adam Klasfeld has staged The Report of My Death, a one-man theatrical portrait of Mark Twain, which had its public premiere on July 22 aboard the 173-foot former U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse tender now known as Lilac. The production uses the ship itself as an evocative setting, aligning the play’s maritime themes with a real vessel that once served the nation’s lighthouses.
Launched in 1933, the Lilac served the U.S. Lighthouse Service from 1933 to 1939 and now rests at Pier 40 on the Hudson River in Manhattan’s South Village. Klasfeld says he discovered the ship by chance: an advertisement posted a few months earlier offering the vessel as a venue for arts organizations. Given that much of the play centers on Twain’s experience traveling by steamboat, the Lilac proved a uniquely fitting and atmospheric location.
The production presents the ghost of Mark Twain, portrayed by actor Michael Graves, as he recounts the darker, lesser-told episodes of his life. A central thread of the piece focuses on Twain’s 1895 world tour, a steamship voyage he undertook to relieve mounting debts and reconnect with audiences abroad. Klasfeld’s script and direction emphasize the tension and melancholy behind Twain’s public persona, letting the ship’s creaks and the Hudson’s backdrop deepen the theatrical mood.
“This whole thing worked out better than I could have ever imagined,” Klasfeld said, reflecting on mounting a staged performance on an actual ship. He describes the process as an adventure; while he had directed stage plays in conventional theaters, this is his first production set on a vessel, requiring creative solutions to staging, sightlines, and technical needs.
Sound proved to be the most persistent technical challenge. Because the Lilac is docked outdoors along a busy waterfront, the production team had to prepare for unpredictable ambient noise: concerts on the pier, passing boats, and general city activity can interrupt scenes. Early rehearsals revealed the need to invest in a high-quality sound system and to design the actor’s delivery to hold against outside sounds without sacrificing nuance.
Graves, the sole onstage performer, treats each performance as a living, adaptive experience. He works to incorporate unexpected noises and intrusions—whether a party boat passing by or a pier-side event—into the moment, preserving the audience’s immersion rather than letting the interruptions feel like distractions. On several occasions, members of the ship’s crew or even the ship’s captain have drifted into the action, and Graves has responded in character, turning potential disruptions into part of the theatrical fabric.
The Lilac itself contributes meaningfully to the piece. Though the ship’s original steam engine is no longer operational, the 800-ton vessel functions as a preserved historical site, and its physical presence lends authenticity to a play about a writer intimately associated with riverboats and American travel. Audiences attend not only to hear a dramatic rendering of Twain’s life but to experience performance within a maritime environment that echoes the play’s themes.
Performance Details
Remaining performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. on Aug. 12–15 and Aug. 21–22. The run time is approximately one hour and 45 minutes. For information on tickets, cast, and crew, visit www.onearmedman.org (site name provided for reference).
— Elizabeth Ellis