Flat Rock Playhouse Presents GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

Set in the 1960s, a progressive white couple's proud liberal sensibilities are put to the test when their daughter brings her Black fiancé home to meet them in this fresh and relevant stage adaptation of the iconic film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner that starred the inimitable Sidney Poitier.

Blindsided by their daughter's whirlwind romance and fearful for her future, Matt and Christina Drayton quickly come to realize the difference between supporting a mixed-race couple in your newspaper and welcoming one into your family. However, they're surprised to find they aren't the only ones with concerns about the match, and it's not long before a multi-family clash of racial and generational difference sweeps across the Drayton's idyllic San Francisco terrace. With humor and insight, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner begins a conversation sure to continue at dinner tables long after the curtain comes down.

"We're proud to bring this story, these characters, and this dialogue to the Playhouse stage with such a beautifully written script," Artistic Director Lisa K. Bryant said. "As professional storytellers, it is critically important to reflect a variety of persons, perspectives, and truths on stage. We're excited to bring this familiar classic to our audiences and revel in the journey that the actors and audience take together in the ephemeral and potent ways that only live theater can elicit."

Directed by Reggie Law and starring Jade Arnold, Marvin Bell, Janie Bushway, Emily Fink, John Little, Robin McGee, Marcy McGuigan, Janet Oliver, and Peter Thomason.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner runs from Friday, August 19 through Sunday, September 4 at Flat Rock Playhouse's Leiman Mainstage. Tickets range from $35 to $55. Student prices are available for ages 18 and under. For more ticket information, call the Flat Rock Playhouse Box Office at 828.693.0731 or purchase online at www.flatrockplayhouse.org

Flat Rock Playhouse Leiman Mainstage is located at 2661 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC, 28731.

In 1937, a group of struggling performers, led by Robroy Farquhar, organized themselves as the Vagabond Players. The Vagabonds worked in a variety of places over the course of three years, and in 1940 found themselves in the Blue Ridge region of Western North Carolina. The local and tourist community welcomed them with open arms when they presented their first summer season of plays in a 150-year-old grist mill they converted into The Old Mill Playhouse at Highland Lake. So successful that summer, they returned in 1941. After WWII, the Vagabond Players reorganized, came back to the region and opened a playhouse in nearby Lake Summit. The Lake Summit Playhouse thrived during the post-war years and soon the Vagabond Players were looking for a larger and permanent home. In 1952, the troupe of performers, and a newly formed board of directors, made an offer to buy an 8-acre lot in the Village of Flat Rock. This new home made the Vagabonds "locals" and a rented big top gave birth to Flat Rock Playhouse. As the beautiful Western Carolina region continued to grow, so did the Playhouse and in 1961, by Act of the North Carolina General Assembly, Flat Rock Playhouse was officially designated The State Theatre of North Carolina. What began as a few weeks of summer performances in 1940 is now a nine-month season of plays including Broadway musicals, comedy, drama, and theatre for young audiences. The Playhouse's dual mission of producing the performing arts and providing education in the performing arts includes a professional series; a summer and fall college apprentice and intern program; and Studio 52, year-round classes and workshops in theatre and film for students from kindergarten through adults. Flat Rock Playhouse now hosts over 105,000 patrons annually and is a significant contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.

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