Hannah Free Premieres in South Florida
By: Beau Higgins Aug. 02, 2005
Creative Arts Enterprises opens the Florida premiere of "Hannah Free",
a play by one of America's most respected playwrights. The play will
be presented August 12 through 28, at the newly opened Miami Globo
Theatre on SW 8th Street.This South Florida premiere of Hannah Free is the result of the play's
staged reading in Creative Arts Enterprises' first Lavender Footlights
Festival. Executive Producer Ellen Wedner says, "We are thrilled to
present our first non-musical play. Hannah Free came out of our 2003
Lavender Footlights Festival and both the audience and the actor's were so
moved by the experience that our Board felt we had to offer South
Florida a full production of this work." Originally produced at Chicago's
Victory Garden's Theater and subsequently around the country, audiences
and critics alike have raved about the touching play that The Arizona
Daily Star says is, "A tender exploration of a lifelong relationship
between two remarkable women. The richly layered story is told with
brutal honesty and great reserves of unexpected humor . . .. A beautifully
written play." Hannah Free is a play, which will "stir your compassion
and strengthen your laugh reflex."
South Florida audiences, including Sheila Allen, Linda Bernhard,
Deborah Jeffery, Justine Barron, Kameshia Duncan, Larry Robinson, Nicole
Savitt, and Senka Grbovich. The Director is Doug Williford with lighting
design by Travis Neff and sound design by Nate Rausch. Doug Williford,
also Artistic Director of Creative Arts Enterprises said, "I feel
honored to be entrusted with the task of directing this beautiful, poetic
love story."Named Chicago's best playwright by Chicago Magazine in 1999, the first
woman to win the Joseph Jefferson award (Chicago's version of New
York's Tony Award or South Florida's Carbonnell Award) for new work -- then
the first woman to win it twice, Claudia Allen is currently a
playwright-in-residence at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater. She has written
eighteen plays both for that theater and others across the country.
said, "People have told me that Hannah Free is lot like me. And that's
okay with me. She's a funny, cantankerous survivor. But part of the craft
of writing a play is not to show too much of yourself," Ms. Allen said.
"I like to create characters outside of myself." Hannah Free, the
protagonist of the play of the same name, is a strong willed woman
whose life-long lover, Rachel, is more introverted and far less at ease
with her sexuality, than her mate. The play traces the story of their
lives during the 1940's.When Florida Stage produced Allen's Hanging Fire back in January, The
Miami Herald's Christine Dolen said of Ms. Allen's work, "(p)lays like
Hanging Fire -- insightful, moving, warmly funny -- don't come along
that often; even good scripts that try for those qualities don't quite get
there." Hannah Free is another such play by Ms. Allen. In a conversation with CAE Executive Producer Ellen Wedner, Ms. Allen
said, "I love to see Hannah travel! I wish I could be there for the
production because I love South Florida audiences but it's just too hot
there in August." Creative Arts Enterprises is happy that they can offer a respite to the
summer heat with what promises to be a wonderful summer evening of
entertainment. Presenting sponsor for this production is
Cosmeticsurgery4men.com. Sponsors include: Women's Community Fund, Burstein Family
Foundation, Wedner & Friends, with the support of the Miami-Dade County
Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and
the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners.Performance Schedule:
Friday, August 12th, 19th and 26th - 8:00pm curtainSaturday, August
13th, 20th, and 27th – 3:00pm and 8:00pm curtainSunday, August 14th, 21st,
and 28th - 5:00pm curtain at the Miami Globo Theater, 1036 SW 8th
Street, Miami
Tickets are $25.00 general admission for all performances but the
Saturday matinees, priced at $20.00. Student tickets may be purchased for
only $15.00 each and a group rate is available by calling (305)
573-2375. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.caemia.org.
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