"The play's the thing..." ~ Shakespeare [HAMLET - Act II, Scene ii]
SOUVENIR ~ A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins
by Stephen Temperley
Sunday, September 14, 2008 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Diane Fabian
Directed by Robert Latimer
Murder on the High C's! A fantasia on the life of the infamous and wealthy society eccentric Florence Foster Jenkins who suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was, in fact, incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Her annual recitals in the ballroom of New York's Ritz Carlton Hotel brought her extraodinary fame... and gales of laughter! As news of her terrible singing spread, so did her celebrity. Hailed as The Diva of Din and The Soprano of The Sliding Scale, the climax of her career was a single concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944 that sold out in two hours! By turns hilarious and poignant, her story is told through the eyes of her accompanist Cosme McMoon... a musical odd-couple for the ages! "People may say I can't sing, but no-one can ever say I didn't sing." - Florence Foster Jenkins. "Devastating and devastatingly funny." ~ Village Voice. "An unexpectedly gentle and affecting comedy." ~ The New York Times. "A beguiling comic jewel with a heart." ~ Variety. "Laugh to your heart's content... SOUVENIR is downright hilarious." ~ Boston Globe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
by Joan Didion
Sunday, October 5, 2008 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Patricia Yeatman
Directed by Robert Latimer
In this dramatic adaptation of her award-winning, best-selling memoir, Joan Didion transforms the story of the sudden death and unexpected loss of her husband and their only daughter into a stunning and powerful one-woman play. Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nominee and winner of the National Book Award, 2005. "Remarkable. It will break your heart. An indelible portrait of grief and loss... a haunting portrait of a four-decade-long marriage." ~ The New York Times. "A play that is as intensely intimate as it is universal." ~ Daily News. "Poignant, heartbreaking and wry... in this beautifully written play, the emotions are so genuine we can't help but be deeply affected." ~ Newsweek.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TALKING HEADS
by Alan Bennett
Sunday, February 15, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Alex Dallas, Maria Heidler, Robert Latimer and Andrea Risk
Directed by Maria Heidler & Robert Latimer
Originally written for BBC Television, this critically acclaimed collection of monologues by celebrated author Alan Bennett (THE HISTORY BOYS, THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE and BEYOND THE FRINGE) reflects his compassionate and acutely observant view of the British way of life. He has adapted these passionate and funny snapshots of lonely lives for the stage, making for hilarious and touching theatre. From the TALKING HEADS canon First Stages will present BED AMONG THE LENTILS, HER BIG CHANCE, A CHIP IN THE SUGAR and MISS FOZZARD FINDS HER FEET. "Diamond cut monologues! " ~ The New York Times. "Bennett manages to combine the satiric, cold-eyed sharpness of Flaubert with an embracing human compassion." ~ The New York Post.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DUET FOR ONE
by Tom Kempinski
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Stephanie McNamara and David Gardner
Directed by Robert Latimer
Winner of the 1980 London Theatre Critics Award for Best Play, this is an immensely moving story about a concert violinist who is stricken with multiple sclerosis that necessitates her retirement from the stage and then threatens her marriage as well. The play revolves around sessions between the violinist and her psychiatrist in which she tries to cope with her illness and its affect on her life. The story is loosely based on the life of world-renowned cello virtuoso Jacqueline du Pre and her husband, conductor Daniel Barenboim. "As moving a piece of theatre as you could wish for or perhaps bear." ~ London Daily Mail. "A wonderfully sensitive play, positive and optimistic." ~ London Financial Times. "A first-rate play." ~ London Sunday Times. "Deeply satisfying... a triumph." ~ Punch
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THREE TALL WOMEN
by Edward Albee
Sunday, April 19, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Corinne Conley, Jillian Cook and Godric Latimer Kim
Directed by Robert Latimer
This engaging examination of the life of one woman won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Her long life is laid out for display, no holds barred. She cascades from regal and charming to vicious and wretched as she wonders about and remembers her life. How did she become this? Who is she? Her life, memories and reminiscences are unceremoniously examined, questioned, accepted or not, but at last, understood. "An extraordinarily brilliant play... the best, most forceful work Albee has given us." ~ The New York Post. "Beautiful and enduring." ~ The New Yorker. "A dazzler... electrifying and heartrending." ~ Wall Street Journal. "A play so good it can only exist on the stage. A perfect illustration of why theatre is an indispensable art." ~ The New York Times.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE DINNER PARTY
by Neil Simon
Sunday, May 10, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Starring: Diana Reis & TBA
Directed by Costin Manu
Here is a decidedly French dinner party served up in a chaotic mode created by America's most produced playwright. Five people are invited to dine at a first rate restaurant in Paris. They do not know who the other guests will be or why they have been invited. Tossed together in a private dining room, they have a sneaking suspicion that this unorthodox dinner party will forever change their lives. The evening is filled with playful antics, sudden zaniness and masterful comic dialogue as the mystery unfolds. "A blizzard of one-liners... the audience can bank on some good laughs." ~ The New York Daily News. "Frequently hilarious but also dangerously serious... an invitation you will be glad you accepted." ~ The New York Post.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Programme and casting subject to change.