Christine Power and Lydia Barnett-Mulligan Star in FPTC's IN THE SUMMER HOUSE, Beginning Tonight

Fort Point Theatre Channel presents In the Summer House, with a stellar ensemble of eight actresses and two actors.

Written just before the modern feminist revolution opened new vistas for women, In the Summer House tells the story of the mysterious and powerful relationship between mothers and their daughters. This remarkable play by Jane Bowles premiered on Broadway in the 1953 and was revived at Lincoln center 40 years later. It explores ideas and issues--about the paths open to women and the relationship between mothers and daughters--that are as immediate and enthralling today.

Leading the cast are Christine Power and Lydia Barnett-Mulligan. They play Gertrude and Molly, the powerful mother and daughter at the center of the action.

Offering Gertrude marriage as a path to escape her constricted life is the Mexican-American Mr. Solares, played by Mauro Canepa.

They are joined by his sister Mrs. Lopez and her daughter Frederica, played by Melissa Nussbaum Freeman and Ainsleigh Caldicott, as well as by their very independent servant Esperanza, played by Josephine Ho.

Felix Teich plays Lionel, Molly's suitor, who dreams of going into politics or becoming a pastor.

Their lives are interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Constable and her lively teenage daughter Vivian, played by Linda Goetz and Amelia Lumpkin.

Becca A. Lewis appears as the fast-talking, oyster-opening restaurant owner Inez.

Writing about the original production, Truman Capote noted, "I cannot sit through most plays once, nevertheless I saw In the Summer House three times . . . because it had a thorny wit, the flavor of a newly tasted, refreshingly bitter beverage."

Tennessee Williams said, "It is not only the most original play I have ever read, I think it also the oddest and funniest and one of the most touching."

In the Summer House is directed by Caitlin Lowans. The producer is Marc S. Miller. Set designer is the installation artist Rick Dorff, who designed the sets for FPTC's productions of Reel to Reel: A Double Bill of Krapp's Last Tape & The Archives, Indiscreet Discretion, and Hidden Faces of Courage (co-produced with On With Living and Learning, Inc.). Costume designer is Karen Pedersen, who recently designed costumes and masks for Apollinaire Theater's production of Bocón. Lighting designer Ian King returns to FPTC having designed lights for Reel to Reel. Brendan Doyle, who just completed the summer season with Berkshire Theatre Group, is sound designer. And Veronica Haakonsen, who also just worked on Apollinaire Theater's summer production in Mary O'Malley Park, is stage/production manager.

In the Summer House, by Jane Bowles," presented by Fort Point Theatre Channel. Directed by Caitlin Lowans. Performances today, October 16-26. Thurs. & Sun. at 7:30 pm, Fri. & Sat. at 8:00 pm. Waterfront Square, 290 Congress Street, Boston. Tickets: FREE. Seating is limited. For reservations: 800.838.3006 or www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org/tickets-shows.

Jane Bowles - From "The Gathering Spirit of Jane Bowles," by Jon Carlson in Rain Taxi Review of Books: "Jane Bowles was an American author of surpassing qualities, although her modest oeuvre remains well outside the consciousness of the general reading public, particularly in the United States. Best known for her novel Two Serious Ladies, published in 1943, she also wrote a number of notable short stories, including "Guatemalan Idyll," "A Stick of Green Candy," and "Tea on the Mountain," as well as the play In the Summer House. These were reissued in the collection entitled My Sister's Hand in Mine, which included a laudatory introduction by Truman Capote, who cited her "... subtlest comprehension of eccentricity and human apartness." Her work was, in [Tennessee] Williams's words, 'the heart of her life.' And Jane's life-animated and exotic, even quixotic-reached and resonated well beyond perceived limits imposed by borders and conventions. Not incidentally, it presaged by a generation the struggle of Western women towards a less-fettered psychology."

Caitlin Lowans - Caitlin Lowans previously directed New World Order, A Kind of Alaska, and Night for Fort Point Theatre Channel's Present Imperfect: A Gallery of Short Works by Harold Pinter. Lowans is the associate artistic director at Stoneham Theatre where she has directed over 20 productions. Favorite Stoneham credits include Doubt, Something's Afoot, Romeo and Juliet, the world-premiere musical Sunfish, Jeffrey Hatcher's The Turn of the Screw, My Fair Lady, Picnic, and Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story. Other Boston area credits include the world premieres of Ryan Landry's M and Psyched for the Huntington; the world-premiere of MJ Kaufman's Outlaw Jean for Fresh Ink; Three Sisters, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Mac Wellman's Psychology Or: Bring a Weasel and a Pint of Your Own Blood. Ms. Lowans is an alumna of the art in education program at Harvard University and Lincoln Center Theater Directors' Lab.

Fort Point Theatre Channel (www.fortpointtc.org) - Fort Point Theatre Channel is dedicated to creating and sustaining new configurations of the performing arts. FPTC brings together an ensemble of artists from the worlds of theater, music, visual arts, and everything in between as a forum for collaborative expression while enriching the Fort Point community, Boston, and beyond. FPTC artistic directors are: Mario Avila, Olivia Brownlee, Jaime Carrillo, Rick Dorff, Mary Driscoll, Anne Loyer, Marc S. Miller, Sally Nutt, Hana Pegrimkova, Nick Thorkelson, Douglas Urbank, Daniel J. van Ackere, and Mark Warhol.

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