The Mint Theatre Company presents a gala evening honoring journalist Martha Gellhorn, and featuring Christiane Amanpour on May 19th.
In 1946, Martha Gellhorn and fellow war correspondent, Virginia Cowles, decided on a lark to write a comedy about two female war correspondents covering WWII. Their delicious comedy, called: LOVE GOES TO PRESS, is a frothy concoction, a romantic comedy set in a press camp in Italy in 1944. The play was a great success in London where it featured a young Irene Worth in the role based on Gellhorn; but played only four performances in New York. "We gathered that the critics were furious with it," Gellhorn wrote in her introduction to the play when it was finally published in 1995. "Since they had not lived through real war, they found it outrageous…practically wicked to make cheap jokes about any aspect of war. That was the end of the play"
On May 19th Mint Theater Company will present a reading of this lost comic gem. Preceding the reading will be a dinner featuring a reading of Gellhorn's wry and witty introduction to the play, by Christiane Amanpour, the chief international correspondent for CNN.
Martha Gellhorn was a trailblazing journalist, filing dispatches over the course of five decades from some of the most dramatic hot spots across the globe. She is one of five journalists honored by the U.S. Post Office with a new line of stamps issued this spring. Her writing rings out with authenticity, keen observation and humanity. Already a published author, her career as a war correspondent began in 1937 when she reported on the Spanish Civil War for Colliers magazine. She was a resident of the famed Hotel Florida in Madrid, along with many other foreign correspondents—including Ernest Hemingway with whom she was having an affair. They married in 1940-and divorced in 1945. His play The Fifth Column, receiving its premiere at the Mint Theater fictionalizes their romance. Love Goes to Press is both a comical romp and a fascinating counterpoint to The Fifth Column, Mint Theater's current offering.
Based out of CNN's New York bureau, Christiane Amanpour is one of the most recognized international correspondents on American television. Her willingness to work in dangerous conflict zones has reportedly made her one of the more famous field reporters in the world.
Mint Theater Company, "that truffle hound of half-buried treasures from the past" (Village Voice) has a celebrated reputation for re-discovering worthy but neglected gems and has brought new vitality to timeless but timely plays since 1992. In 2001, the Mint was awarded an Obie for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition." Mint was awarded a special Drama Desk Award for "Unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit."
A limited number of tickets at $125 and $250 are available by calling the Mint box office at 212/315-0231.
