TThe Bicentenary Celebrations of 2009 may be history, but Tom Paine is set to continue to play a part in the life of Thetford.

The Celebrations committee has been reconstituted as the Tom Paine 200 Legacy Committee, a sub-committee of the Thetford Society with the aim of maintaining the profile of Thetfords radical thinker in the town.

Initially the committee is focused on promoting the Commemorative dvd of the Celebrations. Available from 2 New Horizons in the Market Place (01842 751975), the Ancient House Museum and online at the Box Office, the dvd has been scripted  not only to celebrate 2009 but to give a clear picture of Tom Paines life and thought and the age he lived in. As such, it has a wide potential appeal and is already proving popular in Thetford and beyond.

Other plans include the publication of a commemorative pamphlet featuring a number of the fine speeches and lectures given during the year and the creation of further public memorials of Paine around the town while, in response to a number of requests last year, Autumn 2010 will see the launch of the Common Sense Club. 

The Common Sense Club will be Thetfords version of the original Headstrong Club in Lewes and will run as an annual programme of lectures exploring lively topics of current interest. Look out for further details through the summer.

TRIUMPHANT CONCLUSION TO TOM PAINE 200 CELEBRATIONS

Thetford's Tom Paine 200 Celebrations came to what organisers called a "triumphant" conclusion with the events of the last ten days attracting large audiences to the Carnegie Room. 

The Community Play production Citizen of the World   saw local people tell the story of Paine's life in seventy action-packed minutes of colourful theatre. In a great opening, Paine's statue (Phil Croton) came down from its plinth to address the present generation. Mike Levy's clever script, in which young Thetfordians Cameron Tricker and Sam Trayton played Paine in real life, then led us from Thetford to America and France with ingenious stagecraft which saw Paine's Liberty tree double as gibbet and props stand and actors take on multiple parts with a change of hat or wig or the flourish of a flag. Comic, informative and moving by turns, the production by Keystage Theatre's Lesley Ford was enhanced by a great backcloth from local artist Ned Pamphilon and by the use of contemporary and specially composed songs. 

One such setting, by Dai Jenkins of Paine's poem 'The Liberty Tree' was heard again in Thetford's Forgotten Garden on November 7th when, with the Georgian bells of St Peter's pealing, Paine's distinguished biographer John Keane dedicated our own liberty tree, an eighteenth century apple variety, to commemorate Paine and the Bicentennial Celebrations.

Back in the Carnegie Room, Professor Keane gave the last of the series of extremely well supported academic lectures which have been a feature of the Autumn. While his talk suggested that Paine's vision of a state pension and "old age without wretchedness" was a work in progress, with much yet to be done to cope with the modern demography, it well highlighted Paine's humane concerns and the truly pioneering courage of his writings. 

At the ensuing Reception, generously sponsored by the Shadwell Estate, the audience, many of whom had been involved with the Celebrations for seven productive months and two years of planning, will surely have agreed with Chad Goodwin, Chairman of the Thomas Paine Society. Given the last word, Chad suggested that as well as a vibrant historical fact, now better known to many of us, Tom Paine was a democratically dynamic state of mind, still much needed in our modern world.

The Tom Paine 200 Celebrations - a DVD

Over the last six months we have been filming the Tom Paine 200 DVD, capturing both the activities of our Reenactment Weekend 6-7th June and much of the later programme of Bicentenary Celebrations.

The DVD aims to do justice not only to the story of Thomas Paine's mighty life and achievements but to the energy, good-humour and commitment of the town of Thetford celebrating one of its own.

The DVD, which will make a vivid memento of interesting times, is scheduled for a Christmas release, priced at £5.99.  You are invited to order the Tom Paine 200 DVD (running time c45 minutes) by contacting David Brooks at 2New Horizons, PAL House, Market Place, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2AH (01842 751975), emailing the box office or via Paypal by ordering online. It will be helpful if orders can be submitted by 14th Decemberbut will be accepted after this date. 

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." -
Thomas Paine

Verso's new edition of Paine's work:   Peter Linebaugh presents The Rights of Man and Common Sense (Revolutions Series)

Published to commemorate the bicentennial of Thomas Paine's death, these texts have remained two of the most influential arguments for liberty in political thought.   Common Sense   is a pamphlet that Paine wrote in support of American independence. Due to its original and simple style it spread like wildfire through the colonies, inspiring the American Revolution.   The Rights of Man   is Paine's passionate defense of the French Revolution that led to his trial for sedition and libel.  

The acclaimed historian   Peter Linebaugh   provides an original examination of Paine"s thought and legacy.

Series
Revolutions
416 pages
Paper
ISBN-13: 978 1 84467 380 3
US$14.95 / £7.99 / CAN$16.50

Available from Verso Books