Westport Country Playhouse Presents Sunday Symposium on Playwright Joe Orton Today

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Sunday Symposium with guest speaker Francesca Coppa, foremost American expert on the British playwright Joe Orton, following today's 3 p.m. matinee performance of Orton's "Loot," a wickedly funny send-up of larcenous, lascivious behavior among the English middle classes.

A professor in the department of English at Muhlenberg College, Dr. Coppa is the editor of Joe Orton: A Case Book. Her primary field is British dramatic literature. She is also a scholar of sexuality theory, mass media, and fan cultures. She is currently writing and lecturing about feminist user-generated video.

The symposium will be moderated by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director and director of "Loot." 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. It is open to all, including those who attend a performance of "Loot" at another time. The Sunday Symposium Series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Winner of the coveted Evening Standard Award for Best Play in 1967, "Loot" is an outrageously wicked British farce about the adventures of two young bank robbers in their frantic attempt to hide their stolen money.

Playing from July 16 through August 3, the performance schedule for "Loot" is Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m.,Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Single ticket prices, starting at $30, are subject to change based on availability. Buy early for the best prices. Educators and students are eligible for 50% discounts. On the day of a performance, senior rush tickets are available at 50%. Flex Passes are also on sale, offering date flexibility and many subscriber-only benefits.

"Loot" Production Partners are Eunice and David Bigelow Foundation, and Michael Klingher and Lindsay Schine. Corporate Production Partner is BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

Westport Country Playhouse's 2013 Season will continue with the second world premiere in as many seasons, "Oblivion," a touching and funny-and very modern-tale of parents, children, and the gulf that sometimes exists between them, written by Carly Mensch, writer on Showtime's "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie," and directed by Mark Brokaw, August 20 - September 8. The play was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons and developed by Steppenwolf Theatre Company. "Room Service" is a madcap American farce about a producer and his ragtag bunch of actors who try to raise money for a Broadway show as they scramble to evade their hotel bill, written by John Murray and Allen Boretz, directed by Mark Lamos, October 8 - 27.

For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org, or by using the new Playhouse App or mobile website. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).

About Westport Country Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, professional theater under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management leadership of Michael Ross. The Playhouse creates five live theater experiences, produced at the highest level, from April through November. Its vital mix of works---dramatic, comedic, occasionally exploratory and unusual---expands the audience's sense of what theater can be. The depth and scope of its productions display the foremost theatrical literature from the past---recent as well as distant---in addition to musicals and premieres of new plays. During the summer, The Playhouse is home to the Woodward Internship Program, renowned for the training of aspiring theater professionals. Winter at The Playhouse, from November through March, offers events outside of the main season---Family Festivities presentations and Script in Hand play readings. In addition, businesses and organizations are encouraged to rent the handsome facility for their meetings, receptions and fundraisers.

As an historic venue, Westport Country Playhouse has had many different lives leading up to the present. Originally built in 1835 as a tannery manufacturing hatters' leathers, it became a steam-powered cider mill in 1880, later to be abandoned in the 1920s. Splendidly transformed into a theater in 1931, it initially served as a try-out house for Broadway transfers, evolving into an established stop on the New England straw hat circuit of summer stock theaters through the end of the 20th century. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse became a state-of-the-art producing theater, preserving its original charm and character.

Today, the not-for-profit Westport Country Playhouse serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut. There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build.

For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).

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