51: Who Was the 18th Century's Messiah? – A Conversation with David Crespy

David Crespy is a playwright, biographer, and scholar. He’s the founder and co-director of Mizzou’s Writing for Performance Program, and he’s played an instrumental role in establishing and shaping the trajectories of many other programs, including the Missouri Playwright’s Workshop, the Mizzou New Play Series, and Summer Rep’s Comedy in Concert Series. His latest projects include a late-career biography of the playwright Edward F. Albee, whom he considered a colleague and friend. In this episode, he reads excerpts from two of his plays, shares insights gleaned from studying Albee’s legacy, and recounts the story of a little-known 18th-century Jewish heresiarch from Smyrna who rose to fame by claiming to be the Messiah.