Gloucester Stage Company Will Present MR. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS

The summer will quickly heat up at Gloucester Stage Company with its season's second production, MR. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS, running from July 1 to 24. Directed by Judy Brahaº, it is a turn-of-the-century tale of unbridled passion by Massachusetts playwright Anne Undeland.

Inspired by Edith Wharton's love letters to her young handsome lover, Morton Fullerton, unearthed in the last 25 years, MR. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS is a celebratory awakening for Wharton to the discovery of love in all its bliss, heartbreak, and madness. Undeland's newest play brings together celebrated novelist Edith Wharton (House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome), her friend Henry James (Turn of the Screw), lover Morton Fullerton and Irish lady's maid Posy in an eyebrow-raising retelling of the surprising passion of Wharton's mid-life love affair and sexual discovery in early 20th Century Paris.

Marking her return to Gloucester Stage, the critically acclaimed Boston-based Director Judy Braha, will lead an all-star cast in this literary and historical witty banquet of language, sex, and manners. Mr. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS stars Sarah Newhouse* (Edith Wharton), Bridgette Hayes (Posey), Joshua Wolf Coleman* (Henry James), and Ryan Winkles* (Morton Fullerton). The production is presented under a Dramatists Guild agreement with the Playwright.

"I was seduced the moment I started reading the first steamy scene between Morton Fullerton and Edith Wharton, not only by the subject of seduction but by Anne Undeland's lovely unfolding of the story of Edith's awakening," said Paula Plum, Gloucester Stage Company's Interim Artistic Director. "I love this play because it exposes the vulnerability and the desires of a middle-aged woman in all her humanity, her longing and her grappling with an unreliable yet persistent lover. Edith Wharton, this icon of 20th Century literature, is humanized in this play by virtue of her desire,"

"MR. FULLERTON BETWEEN THE SHEETS is about love. Based on the improbable affair Edith Wharton had at the age of 46, it's about falling in love passionately, gloriously, and excruciatingly," shared playwright Anne Undeland. "Along the way, every kind of love reveals itself: the love of friends and caregivers, pets, beauty and home, and ultimately, the love of transcendently written words. These things are relevant to us all - indeed, they are necessary, now more than ever."

MR. FULLERTON, BETWEEN THE SHEETS will run from July 1 through July 24. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Tickets are now on sale and available at GloucesterStage.com.

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