The Boy from Fishhook
2017 · Sibert Theatre, Jacksonville; First Christian Church, Mt. Sterling; First Christian Church, Pittsfield
The Boy from Fishhook is Ken Bradbury's stage telling of the life of Robert Earl Hughes (1926–1958), a Pike County, Illinois native who became, during his lifetime, the heaviest human being recorded in history. Produced for the Pike County Historical Society, the play follows a local boy whose story carried him from the small communities of west-central Illinois to national celebrity.
Born June 4, 1926, in Monticello, Missouri, Hughes moved to Baylis, Illinois, at six months old. His extraordinary weight — attributed to a malfunctioning pituitary gland — was apparent in childhood: about 203 pounds at age six and 326 pounds by twelve, reaching an estimated 1,069 pounds at his heaviest. As an adult he appeared at carnivals and fairs, and his fame grew to the point that even his custom-made blue jeans made news; Life magazine, the play recalls, once described him as a relatively light eater. He died July 10, 1958, at the age of 32, after a case of measles developed into kidney failure. He was eulogized, in the words of the production's source material, as a man whose heart was as big as his body.
Bradbury's script returns this national curiosity to the people and places that knew him, presenting his life not as a sideshow but as the story of a hometown son.
Cast
- Robert Earl Hughes (title role) — Willem Kline
- Keith Bradbury
- Sylvia Burke
- Rich McCoy
- Melissa Mueller
- Brenda Yale
- Jim Yale
Production Notes
Written and directed by Ken Bradbury and presented by the Pike County Historical Society, the production toured Pike, Brown, and Morgan Counties in July 2017:
- July 13 & 14, 2017 — Sibert Theatre, Jacksonville, IL (Illinois College campus), 7:30 pm
- July 15, 2017 — First Christian Church, Mt. Sterling, IL, 7:30 pm
- July 16, 2017 — First Christian Church, Pittsfield, IL, 2:00 pm
An earlier staging played the Playhouse on the Square in Jacksonville. Cast member Willem Kline, who took the title role, was at the time a sophomore at Illinois College double-majoring in Theatre and English with a creative-writing focus. Rich McCoy was the owner of the Playhouse on the Square in Jacksonville and a native of Mt. Sterling; Melissa Mueller was a resident of Arenzville; Brenda Yale was from Petersburg; and Jim Yale served as Vice President of Association Relations for Horace Mann.
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