Deirdre Madigan, Stephen Schnetzer and Lynn Cohen to Lead Reading of SOCIAL SECURITY at Westport Country Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of "Social Security," a comedy by Andrew Bergman, one of Hollywood's top comedy screenwriters, on Monday, November 14, at 7 p.m. The reading will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. Tickets are $20 each.

"'Social Security' is a play I rediscovered by looking at the wonderful collection of posters scattered all over our theater," said Keefe. "The Playhouse did this play in 1988, a couple of years after it was on Broadway. When I picked up the script to read it, I realized I knew all of the original actors and the director, so I was able to envision every detail. And boy, did I laugh. My generation cares for both our children and our parents and things can get complicated, and very relatable!"

"Social Security" is about David and Barbara Kahn, successful Manhattan art dealers. Their sophisticated lifestyle and domestic tranquility are shattered when Barbara's mother Sophie comes to live with them. Comic sparks fly as Sophie begins to hit it off with a famous artist who is the Kahns' biggest client.

Cast members for "Social Security" are: David Beach as Martin Heyman (Westport Country Playhouse's "Room Service"; Broadway's "Something Rotten," "It's Only a Play," "Mamma Mia!," "Urinetown"; Goodspeed's "Damn Yankees"; television's "Veep"); Lynn Cohen as Sophie Greengrass (WCP's Script in Hand playreading of "Crossing Delancey"; Broadway's "I Remember Mama," "Big Love," "Orpheus Descending"; films "Catching Fire: The Hunger Games 2," "Munich," "Sex and the City"); Deirdre Madigan as Barbara Kahn (WCP's "And a Nightingale Sang," "A Marriage Minuet," "A Few Good Men," Script in Hand playreading of "The Late Christopher Bean"; Broadway's "A Delicate Balance").

Lizbeth MacKay as Trudy Heyman (WCP's Script in Hand playreading of "Morning's at Seven"; Broadway's "The Humans," "The Price," "All My Sons," "Crimes of the Heart"-Theatre World, Outer Circle Critics Awards); Stephen Schnetzer as David Kahn (WCP's "Broken Glass"; Broadway's "The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?," "A Talent for Murder," "Filumena"; 17 years as Cass Winthrop on "Another World"); and Lenny Wolpe as Maurice Koenig (WCP's "She Loves Me," Script in Hand playreadings of "Last Night of Ballyhoo," "Beau Jest," "Over the River and Through the Woods"; NY's "Old Jews Telling Jokes"). All artists are subject to change.

Playwright Andrew Bergman was crowned the "Unknown King of Comedy" by New York Magazine. He wrote the original story and co-authored the screenplay of "Blazing Saddles," which was nominated by the American Film Institute as among the greatest comedies of all time. He is the writer and director of the feature films "The Freshman," "Honeymoon in Vegas," "It Could Happen to You," "So Fine," and "Striptease." Bergman recently collaborated with composer Jason Robert Brown to adapt his popular film "Honeymoon in Vegas" into a Broadway musical, starring Tony Danza.

Director Anne Keefe served as artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse with JoAnne Woodward in 2008, and as associate artistic director from 2000-2006, also with Ms. Woodward. She co-directed with Ms. Woodward the Westport Country Playhouse production of "David Copperfield," and directed many Script in Hand playreadings.

Script in Hand sponsors are Marc and Michele Flaster; Script in Hand partners are Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler; Script in Hand Corporate Sponsor is Northwestern Mutual. The series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

The mission of Westport Country Playhouse is to enrich, enlighten, and engage the community through the power of professionally produced theater worth talking about and the welcoming experience of The Playhouse campus. The Playhouse creates this relationship with the community and provides this experience in multiple ways by offering: Live theater experiences of the highest quality, under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos, from May to November; educational and community engagement events and opportunities to further explore issues presented by the work on stage; special performances and programs for students and teachers with extensive curriculum support material; Script in Hand playreadings throughout the year to deepen relationships with audiences and artists alike; the renowned Woodward Internship Program training program during the summer months for aspiring theater professionals; Family Festivities presentations from November through April to delight young and old alike and to promote reading through live theater; and the beautiful and historic Playhouse campus open for enjoyment and community events year-round. The value of the Westport Country Playhouse to all it touches is immeasurable.

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