Westport Country Playhouse Stages THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE, Now thru 9/7

Westport Country Playhouse will stage Alan Ayckbourn's romantic comedy, "Things We Do for Love," today, August 19 through Sunday, September 7, directed by Tony Award nominee John Tillinger, a veteran director of many Ayckbourn plays on Broadway and at the Playhouse.

"I'm so happy to present the work of two men who have given countless evenings of joy and laughter to our audiences over the years: playwright Alan Ayckbourn and director John Tillinger," said Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director. "John has a special gift for releasing the bubbles of inanity, comic helplessness, pain and humanity in the champagne bottles that are Ayckbourn's brilliantly funny comedies. And 'Things We Do for Love' is one of his richest and most surprising."

In "Things We Do for Love," fastidious Barbara's orderly, but solitary world is thrown into chaos when the arrival of her longtime friend Nikki and her fiancé ignites unexpected and violent passions. Replete with trademark Ayckbourn touches, this wickedly funny play will have the audience questioning just how sane anyone really is when it comes to love. Mature content; appropriate for age 16 and up.

The cast includes Geneva Carr as Barbara. She has appeared in four Ayckbourn plays at Westport Country Playhouse, "Relatively Speaking" (2007), "Time of My Life" (2008), "How the Other Half Loves" (2009), and a Script in Hand playreading of "Bedroom Farce" (2010). In New York, she was in "Hand to God." Matthew Greer is cast as Hamish. He was in Broadway's "Cabaret," "Seminar," "The Real Thing," and "The Judas Kiss," and the National Tour of "Spamalot." Sarah Manton will play Nikki. She was in Broadway's "One Man Two Guvnors," and London's "The Coast of Utopia," "South Pacific," and "Dirty Dancing." Michael Mastro, who will portray Gilbert, appeared on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (2003), "Mamma Mia!," and "Barrymore" with Christopher Plummer.

Director John Tillinger has helmed previous Ayckbourn comedies at Westport Country Playhouse including "How the Other Half Loves" and "Relatively Speaking." On Broadway, he directed Ayckbourn's "Absurd Person Singular"; "Say Goodnight, Gracie" with Frank Gorshin; "Judgment at Nuremburg" with Maximilian Schell; "Night Must Fall" with Matthew Broderick; "The Sunshine Boys" with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall; "Inherit the Wind" with Charles Durning and George C. Scott (Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award); Arthur Miller's "The Price" with Eli Wallach (Tony Award nomination); A. R. Gurney's "Sweet Sue" with Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave; "Loot" with Joseph Maher (Tony Award nomination, OCC Award); and "The Golden Age" with Stockard Channing, Irene Worth, and Jeff Daniels.

Alan Ayckbourn marks his 55th year as a playwright. To date he has written 78 plays and his work has been translated into over 35 languages, is performed on stage and television throughout the world, and has won countless awards. Major successes include "Relatively Speaking," "How the Other Half Loves," "Absurd Person Singular," "Bedroom Farce," "A Chorus of Disapproval," and "The Norman Conquests." In recent years, he has been inducted into American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, and became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The design team includes James Noone, scenic design; Laurie Churba, costume design; Paul Miller, lighting design; and Scott Killian, sound design.

"Things We Do for Love" Corporate Production Sponsor is Fidelity Investments; Production Partners are Carol and Peter Seldin.

Single tickets start at $30; buy early for 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 available, offering restaurant discounts and other subscriber-only benefits.

"Things We Do for Love" performance schedule 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. Special series feature Taste of Tuesday, Previews, LGBT Night OUT, Opening Night, Sunday Symposium, Open Captions, Thursday TalkBack, Together at the Table Family Dinner, Playhouse Young Professionals, and Backstage Pass.

For more information, 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), or view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

Photo by Kat Gloor.

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