Westport Country Playhouse Presents "A Conversation About the Work of Alan Ayckbourn" 8/2 With Howard Sherman

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Sunday Symposium titled, "A Conversation About the Work of Alan Ayckbourn," following the Sunday, August 2, 3 p.m. matinee performance of Ayckbourn's classic comedy "How The Other Half Loves." Guest speaker will be Howard Sherman, executive director of the American Theatre Wing. The symposium will be a free-ranging discussion about the playwright, his influences and his impact on the modern theatre.

The Playhouse Sunday Symposium program, free and open to the public, provides the audience with guest speakers' in-depth insights and observations about the production, followed by an interactive dialogue. David Kennedy, Westport Country Playhouse associate artistic director, will moderate the Sunday Symposium. It is open to all, including those who attend a performance of "How The Other Half Loves" at another time. The Sunday Symposium is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

"Howard's unique perspective on Ayckbourn-he knows him not just in a professional capacity, but as a friend-provides precisely the sort of opportunity that makes our symposiums so exciting," said Kennedy. "I'm sure he'll have many insights into the work of Ayckbourn, one of the great playwrights of our time, as well as interesting anecdotes about the man himself. It promises to be a fascinating afternoon."

Howard Sherman joined the American Theatre Wing as executive director in 2003. His responsibilities include representing ATW in all aspects of The Tony Awards; executive producing and periodically moderating ATW's long-running "Working in the Theatre" TV series; co-creating and co-hosting "Downstage Center" on XM Satellite Radio; and supervising all of the Wing's other programs (www.americantheatrewing.org). Prior to ATW, he was executive director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, managing director of GeVa Theatre in Rochester and the first general manager of Goodspeed Musicals in East Haddam, where he worked on the U.S. Premiere of Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "By Jeeves." As public relations director of Hartford Stage (1985-1993), he represented 50 shows, including Mark Lamos' productions of "Hamlet" and "Peer Gynt" with Richard Thomas. He began his career in press positions with Westport Country Playhouse, Philadelphia Festival Theater for New Plays and Manhattan Theatre Club. He has taught and/or guest lectured at the Yale School of Drama, Hartt School of Music and University of Connecticut; is a corporation member of The Neighborhood Playhouse and on the National Board of Advisors of The Actors Fund; and served as an on-site evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a native of New Haven and a graduate the University of Pennsylvania.

Alan Ayckbourn was born in London in 1939 and has worked in theatre all his life. His plays have been translated into 35 languages, have won numerous national and international awards - most recently the 2009 Tony for Best Revival of a Play with "The Norman Conquests" - and are performed on stage and television throughout the world. Ayckbourn has written 73 plays; among his successes are: "How The Other Half Loves," "Absurd Person Singular," "The Norman Conquests," "Bedroom Farce," "Just Between Ourselves," "A Chorus of Disapproval," "Woman in Mind," "A Small Family Business" and "Comic Potential."

The full schedule for "How The Other Half Loves" will run from July 28 - August 15, with performances Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theatres. Now celebrating its 79th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, The Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, The Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org.

Photo credit: Walter McBride

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