Meet Steve Edenbo
I’m absolutely beside myself with this print of a 2007 painting of me as Mr. Jefferson, painted by Pamela Patrick White.
I’m beside Mr. Jefferson with this reproduction of a 1789 bust sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon. Over two decades ago when I was first told that I look a lot like Thomas Jefferson, the thought had never occurred to me. Since then, that resemblance has helped audiences engage in the “willful suspension of disbelief” and enjoy the theatrical moment of Thomas Jefferson sharing his life and thoughts with them in person.
Selected CLIENTS :
The FBI
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Independence National Historical Park
The National Archives in Washington, DC
The Federal Executive Institute
Steve bears a striking resemblance to Thomas Jefferson. In this picture Steve is standing beside a bust of Thomas Jefferson, created by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1789, at the New-York Historical Society.
My first performance as Thomas Jefferson was in Independence National Historical Park in 1999. It was an improvisational “meet & greet” style appearance, so I had no script as a safety net. By that point, I had read only a few books on Jefferson, which is just enough to get you into trouble. Terrified though I was, I immediately fell in love with the challenging combination of scholarship, theater, and travel that this work entails.
I’ve continued research, both on my own and as a Fellow at Monticello’s Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, throughout my two decades of appearing as Jefferson across the United States and in England. The meet & greet performances have gotten a lot easier (and more fun!), and I’ve written a number of scripts —both solo as well as debate. I’m always learning more because, when it comes to Jefferson studies, the further into the forest you go, the bigger the trees get. It's a constantly humbling journey, because I can neither know everything there is to know about Thomas Jefferson, nor can I know everything that Jefferson knew. Fortunately for me, I can rely on the works of scholars who have mastered specific facets of Jefferson research. Even more fortunately for me, I don't have to be Thomas Jefferson; I just have to tell his story.