The play THOREAU is based on the life, works and words of Henry David Thoreau. The play encompasses one summer in Henry David Thoreau's life including his marriage proposal to Ellen Sewall, his arrest and jailing for failing to pay his taxes and his climb to the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine. Thoreau hires a Penobscot Indian, Joe Polis, who guides him to the base of Mount Katahdin.