Asolo Rep Presents THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE 3/20-3/24

Asolo Repertory Theatre presents George Bernard Shaw's THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE, directed and designed by the multiple Tony and Academy Award winning Tony Walton. The Asolo Rep production opens March 20 and continues through May 24, 2009. Tickets are available through the Asolo Rep box office at (941) 351-8000, toll-free at (800) 361-8388, as well as online at www.asolo.org.

THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE is Shaw's only play set in the United States. It is a timely, crackling comedy presented in true Shaw style and set in New Hampshire during the American Revolution. Self-professed "devil's disciple" Dick Dudgeon has rejected Puritan values to follow his will. The Reverend Anderson follows his heart and practices what he preaches. Mrs. Anderson is the picture of piety until British soldiers mistakenly arrest Dick instead of the Reverend. This thoroughly enjoyable portrayal of the good and the bad (depending on where you stand) and Puritan values comes to Asolo Rep fresh from a critically acclaimed New York run.

Mr. Walton also designed the sets for Asolo Rep's acclaimed 2007 production of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, which went on to a Broadway run in 2008. He is a world renowned director and designer honored with 16 Tony Award nominations for his Broadway sets and/or costumes. PIPPIN, HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, and GUYS AND DOLLS won him Tony Awards. Among his 20 films, Mary Poppins, THE BOY FRIEND, THE WIZ and MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS earned him 5 Academy Award nominations. ALL THAT JAZZ won him the Oscar and DEATH OF A SALESMAN the Emmy. During the last 12 years he has directed productions of Wilde, Shaw, Coward, and others for New York's Irish Rep, San Diego's Old Globe, and Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor. He is currently preparing to direct and design the Sherman Brothers' musical BUSKER ALLEY, starring Jim Dale, for Broadway. In 1991 he was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame. During the rehearsal and design process for this production, Mr. Walton makes Sarasota his home away from home. He will attend opening night, including the afterparty / mingle-with-the-stars celebration.

Tickets are $20-$58, depending on seat location, day and time. Special discounts are available for students and for groups of 10 or more. For reservations, call 941-351-8000 or toll-free 800-361-8388. Or save time and gas by purchasing tickets online at www.asolo.org. Season subscriptions are also on sale, offering a substantial discount and benefits to the subscriber. Student passes cost only $25 and allow students to attend any and all of the plays, as often as they like over the entire repertory season. Tickets to opening night include a special champagne afterparty sponsored by Lakewood Ranch Communities.

Director's Notes: by Tony Walton

One of the reasons I have often returned to Shaw in the course of my directing adventures is that the sheer pleasure of tangling with his brilliance far outweighs the demands and frustrations of bringing his work fully alive for audiences over 100 years after he committed it to paper. The more we dig into the text, the more timely his words seem to become...and The Devil's Disciple in particular is a play whose subject matter remains eminently relevant today. In fact, a comment Shaw made shortly after the play was first produced highlights the similarities between the society he was writing for and our own contemporary culture. He noted that "at the end of the nineteenth century there was never a play more certain to be written than The Devil's Disciple. The age was visibly pregnant with it. A generation that is thoroughly moralized and patriotized, that conceives virtuous indignation as spiritually nutritious, that murders the murderer and robs the thief, that grovels before all sorts of ideals, social, military, ecclesiastical, royal and divine, may be, from my point of view, steeped in error..." This sentiment - alas - could just as easily be referring to our current political and social challenges. It often feels as if nothing substantial has changed for the better here in America over the last 110 years. In some ways perhaps, it may even have become a little worse.

I came to live and work in the U.S. partly because I was very affected by historical accounts of the humanity and generosity of the Founding Fathers' original "dream," and I find myself getting goose bumps at the reverse-reminders of that dream from today's political and military perspective. Reminders of what an extraordinary country this so nearly is...if only...

We now find ourselves in a position perilously close to that of the British forces in this play - a situation that can not continue much longer without calamitous results. Shaw's play reminds us that in order to live up to the potential of that original dream of America, we must each be willing to make a stand for our individual beliefs, and must never "grovel" before ideals that have become tarnished.

For the first New York production of The Devil's Disciple 111 years ago, the cast count hovered around 100 or more. I have endeavored to be somewhat more economical - in its 2007-2008 season, our Irish Rep production featured 11 actors. Here at Asolo Rep we are using 15. Except for a little necessary patchwork, this has not essentially affected the dialogue...and even the "patches" are of Shaw's own making, extracted from elsewhere in his work. Despite the above, I trust this "miniaturization" of his unnervingly timely play may still provide the crackle and punch and pleasure of G.B.S.' extravagantly imposing original.