Westport Country Playhouse Announces A. R. Gurney’s “The Cocktail Hour” as Script in Hand Playreadin
Cast Members Are Jack Gilpin, Clare Karpen, Ann McDonough, Jake Robards
Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of A. R. Gurney’s “The Cocktail Hour,” a funny and touching, quasi-autobiographical story about a playwright who writes a new play that presents an unflattering picture of his family, on Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m. The play will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. Tickets are $20 each.
“I was reminded of this lovely play by Playhouse favorite A.R. Gurney during our gala honoring him in 2014, when we did a brief scene as part of the evening,” said Keefe. “The popularity of last season’s Gurney play, ‘Love and Money,’ called it to mind again. I think it will touch the audience in many of the usual Gurney ways, but also give them things to laugh about and relate to.”
“The Cocktail Hour” is about John, a playwright, who returns to his family’s house, bringing with him a new play which he has written about them. His purpose is to obtain their permission to proceed with production, but his wealthy, very proper parents are cautious. They are disturbed by the bluntness of modern plays. Their confrontation takes place during the ritual of the cocktail hour, and as the martinis flow, so do the recriminations and revelations, both humorous and poignant.
Cast members for “The Cocktail Hour” are: Jack Gilpin as Bradley (Westport Country Playhouse’s “Hay Fever,” “A Cheever Evening,” and more, four Script in Hand playreadings; Showtime’s “Billions”); Claire Karpen as Nina (WCP’s “Bedroom Farce”; Broadway’s “Sylvia”; Off-Broadway’s “Into the Woods,” “The Heir Apparent”); Ann McDonough as Ann (WCP’s “The Cocktail Hour” (1990), two Script in Hand playreadings; Off-Broadway’s “The Dining Room”); and Jake Robards as John (WCP’s “The Dining Room,” “Our Town,” which transferred to Broadway, five Script in Hand playreadings). All artists are subject to change.
Playwright A. R. (“Pete”) Gurney, a Connecticut resident, has had many of his plays produced by Westport Country Playhouse, including last year’s premiere of “Love and Money,” and 2013’s “The Dining Room,” winner of several Connecticut Critics Circle Awards. Gurney has been writing plays for many years, and is best known for “Love Letters,” and “Sylvia.” A new play, “Family Furniture,” was recently produced at the Flea Theater, while two revivals, “The Wayside Motor Inn” and “What I Did Last Summer,” found new life at the Signature Theatre. Gurney has received several awards for the body of his work and is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Theatre Hall of Fame. His website is argurney.com.
Director Anne Keefe served as artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse with Joanne Woodward in 2008, and as associate artistic director from 2000-2006, also with Ms. Woodward. She co-directed with Ms. Woodward the Westport Country Playhouse production of “David Copperfield,” and directed many Script in Hand playreadings.
Script in Hand sponsors are Marc and Michele Flaster; Script in Hand partners are Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler. Script in Hand corporate sponsor is People’s United Bank Wealth Management. The series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).
About Westport Country Playhouse
The mission of Westport Country Playhouse is to enrich, enlighten, and engage the community through the power of professionally produced theater worth talking about and the welcoming experience of the Playhouse campus. The Playhouse creates this relationship with the community and provides this experience in multiple ways by offering: Live theater experiences of the highest quality from May to October; educational and community engagement events and opportunities to further explore issues presented by the work on stage; special performances and programs for students and teachers with extensive curriculum support material; Script in Hand playreadings throughout the year to deepen relationships with audiences and artists alike; the renowned Woodward Internship Program training program during the summer months for aspiring theater professionals; Family Festivities presentations from November through April to delight young and old alike and to promote reading through live theater; and the beautiful and historic Playhouse campus open for enjoyment and community events year-round. The value of the Westport Country Playhouse to all it touches is immeasurable.
Westport Country Playhouse’s 2016 Season includes two Tony Award-winning plays staged in repertory, directed by Mark Lamos, from May 3 to 29: “Art” by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton; and “Red” by John Logan. Each of the plays is about art: making it, owning it, the anguish of creating it, and the ache of believing in it. The recent Off-Broadway comedy hit, “Buyer and Cellar” by Jonathan Tolins, is about a young, out-of-work actor who winds up working for a well-known star named Barbra in the mall she built in her Malibu mansion, playing June 14 – July 3. The comedy won a Lucille Lortel Award. Another recent Off-Broadway piece, “The Invisible Hand,” a riveting and relevant new thriller by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, author of Broadway’s “Disgraced,” will run July 19 – August 6, directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. When an American futures trader finds himself kidnapped and held hostage in Pakistan, he knows the only way to get home is to do what he does best: play the market like his life depends on it. Joe Orton’s comedy, “What the Butler Saw,” offering a little blackmail, and a lot of sexual innuendo, will play from August 23 – September 10, directed by John Tillinger, who helmed a recent, critically acclaimed production of the play in Los Angeles. Lerner and Loewe’s “Camelot,” a freshly inventive take on one of the foremost musicals in the American canon, will run October 4 – 30, directed by Mark Lamos. The classic love triangle of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot will be a reimagined version.
