Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, Communications Specialist, 704-4508; e-mail: lingle@trlib.org.

The Yelm Timberland Library will present "Lewis and Clark and the End of the World," the new one-act play by Northwest playwright, Bryan Willis, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9 in the library’s living room. The play is directed by Harlequin Productions artistic director, Scot Whitney, and stars Peter Kappler as Meriwether Lewis and Andrew Gordon as William Clark. Sponsored by the Yelm Prairie Historical Society, the performance is free of charge and intended for a teen to adult audience.

Just three years after the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 35-year-old Meriwether Lewis died in ignominy. His final hour is one of the more controversial events in early U.S. history, his death commonly assumed to be by suicide. Willis’ drama raises other possibilities.

The play is set at the site of Lewis’ death, a remote inn located along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee. Lewis was en route to Washington, D.C. to defend himself against charges of embezzlement and incompetence as the governor of Louisiana Territory. His health was precarious; his personal finances were in shambles. Even Lewis’ patriotism was questioned and Jefferson, his great mentor and protector, was no longer president.

"The play tries to get inside the mind and spirit of a complex figure. The core of the play is the friendship between Lewis and Clark. It’s the greatest buddy story of all time," Willis said. Willis wrote the script for Harlequin favorites Kappler and Gordon in mind: "Their natural repartee is very well suited for the work. They're both superb actors."

Willis enjoys producing plays for small audiences in intimate venues such as the library. Several years ago his play, "Poe: The Poet’s Journey," premiered at the historic McCleary Hotel. Willis’ theatrical works have been produced at the Edinburgh (Scotland) Fringe Festival, BBC Radio, National Public Radio, off-Broadway, and in regional theaters.

Timberland Regional Library serves the information, reading and lifelong learning needs of the Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county public at 27 community libraries and 4 school-based cooperative library centers. The library system is funded by local property taxes. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library 4 days in advance.