Sunday, September 20, 2026, 1 p.m.
Playwright Erica Berman draws on the real exploits of 19-year-old Mary Ann Brown Patten in her play “Steady She Goes,” which Madison’s Forward Theater produces in a world premiere this September in the Overture Center Playhouse. Tilar J. Mazzeo’s 2025 book about Brown Patten — the first female commander of an American merchant vessel, in 1856 — draws on historic journals as well as her own expedition to Antarctica. Forward Theater artistic director Jen Uphoff Gray moderates this discussion about two very different interpretations of Brown Patten’s extraordinary story.
Panelist: Tilar J. Mazzeo, Erica Berman
Moderator: Jen Uphoff Gray
Location: Virtual session
Tickets: Free online registration at captimesideafest.com