Mint Theatre Co.'s The Madras House Begins Jan. 31

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Mint Theater Company will present a rare New York revival of Harley Granville-Barker's 1909 The Madras House. Gus Kaikkonen will direct. Performances begin January 31st.

The Madras House will feature Roberta Maxwell and George Morfogen as Amelia and Constantine Madras, along with Tony Award nominees Laurie Kennedy and Jonathan Hogan. Roberta Maxwell recently starred as Jack Twist's mother in Brokeback Mountain; George Morfogen created the role of Rebadow for six seasons of the HBO hit "OZ", he also starred in The Voysey Inheritance and The Lonely Way at the Mint; Laurie Kennedy received a Tony nomination for her role in Shaw's Man and Superman; Jonathan Hogan was nominated for the 1985 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for As Is.

Also featured will be Mary Bacon, Ross Bickell, Lisa Bostnar, Thomas M. Hammond, Jonathan Hogan, Laurie Kennedy, Roberta Maxwell, Allison McLemore, Pamela McVeagh, Mark L. Montgomery, George Morfogen, Angela Reed, Scott Romstadt, and Kraig Swartz.

"Alexander Woollcott, writing for The New York Times in 1921, exclaimed, "The Madras House is a dramatization not of a human being, but of a human problem. The protagonist that wanders through its four abundant acts is not a person. It is a question. How are the brains of the world to be cleared and the work of the world to be done when that world is necessarily peopled with mutually exciting creatures and its energy so largely devoted to fomenting that excitability?" In other words, what in the world are we doing about the overpowering distraction of sex?," as press notes state.

"Harley Granville-Barker was one of the most influential figures in the history of the modern theater. "We are all in debt to Granville-Barker," wrote The Guardian just last spring, "His ideas were prophetic and extraordinary." He was an inspired director, a visionary producer and a brilliant playwright—and yet he is hardly known in this country. His impact is still felt keenly, here and in England. His Prefaces to Shakespeare revolutionized the approach to staging the plays—in fact some credit him with evolving the role of the modern director as unifier of the creative elements in drama and representative of the author."

The Madras House will feature set design by Charles Morgan, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by William Armstrong.

The Madras House will take place on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street. Performances, which begin January 31st and continue through March 11th, will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets will be $35 through February 18th only, and $45 thereafter and are available by calling (212) 315-0231 or online at www.minttheater.org