John C. Fremont, the explorer who mapped, named and traversed the Great Basin, comes to the Nevada State Museum Thursday in the form of performer and Chautauquan Alastair Morley Jaques.
Doors open for the theatrical presentation at 6 p.m., with the one-man show starting a half hour later. The performance is part of the monthly Frances Humphrey Lecture series. The program is free with regular admission to the museum, $8 for adults and free for members and those ages 17 and younger. The museum is located at 600 N. Carson St. downtown.
Jaques focuses in his presentation on the life, struggles and adventures of Fremont after the explorer’s second expedition into the west. The material is drawn from Fremont’s published reports, private correspondence and other primary source documents.
The performance, called “Finding the Path,” complements the museum’s newest exhibit, which is dubbed, “Finding Fremont: Pathfinder of the West.” The exhibit is on display through next spring. It portrays Fremont at a critical time in American history and is part of celebratory events going on in conjunction with Nevada’s 150th anniversary of statehood.
The performer said his rendition of the explorer captures the “flawed and all too human grandeur” of a man who seemed to many to be larger than life. Jaques, who hails from Portland, studied theater arts and American literature at the University of Oregon and Evergreen State College.