Dark Nights at The New Group Presents MAMA'S BOY: The Woman Behind The Man Who Killed Kennedy 12/6

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2009 7:00 PM at The Acorn Theatre- DRAMATIZING HISTORY: Rob Urbinati's Mama's Boy

A reading and discussion about the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald moderated by Emily Mann,
award-winning playwright and Artistic Director of The McCarter Theatre

"If you research the life of Jesus Christ, you'll find that you never did hear anything more about the mother, Mary, after He was crucified. And since Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered, nobody has worried about my welfare either."
- Marguerite Oswald

The mother of the man accused of killing John F. Kennedy takes center stage in a new play by Rob Urbinati (Hazelwood Jr. High) featuring Jayne Houdysell (Well).

In Mama's Boy, Marguerite Oswald, fierce defender of her son's innocence, and self-proclaimed "mother in history", struggles to keep her family together in the shadow of momentous events. The evening will feature selections from the play, directed by Davis McCallum, which is based in part on Marguerite Oswald's testimony before the Warren Commission, and on events in the years leading up to and just following the assassination. It will be accompanied by a discussion of the context and issues raised by the work with McCarter Theatre's Artistic Director, Emily Mann.

This event is FREE to Subscribers.
Tickets to the general public and Subscriber companion tickets are $20.

This extraordinary event is sure to fill up quickly, so reservations are a must.

Jayne Houdyshell Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie, Wicked, Well (2006 Tony Nomination, Theatre World Award Winner 2006). Off-Broadway: Coraline, The New Century (Outer Critics Circle Nominations, Drama League Nomination), The Receptionist (2008 Lucille Lortel Nomination, Drama League Nomination), The Pain and the Itch (2007 Drama League Nomination); Well, Public Theater (2004 Obie Award and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel Award Nominations); Much Ado About Nothing, Fighting Words, True Love, Attempts on Her Life. Upcoming Film: Morning Glory, The Bounty. Film: Everbody's Fine, Garden State, Changing Lanes, Trust The Man, and Things That Hang From Trees.

Emily Mann Multi-award-winning Director and Playwright Emily Mann is celebrating her 20th season as Artistic Director of McCarter Theatre. Under Ms. Mann's leadership, McCarter was honored with the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater. Directing credits include Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics (also on Broadway), the world premiere of Christopher Durang's Miss Witherspoon (also off-Broadway), All Over (also off-Broadway; 2003 Obie Award for Directing); The Cherry Orchard and more. Her plays include the multi-award-winning Execution of Justice; Still Life (six Obie Awards); Greensboro (A Requiem); and Annulla, An Autobiography. Ms. Mann wrote and directed Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations; NAACP Award; Joseph Jefferson Award; Peabody and Christopher Awards and WGA nomination for her screenplay). A winner of the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, she is a member of the Dramatists Guild and serves on its Council. A collection of her plays, Testimonies: Four Plays, has been published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc. Her latest play, Mrs. Packard, was the recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award. In 2002, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Princeton University.

Davis McCallum directed the world premiere of Rob Urbinati's West Moon Street for Prospect Theater Company at the Hudson Guild Theater. He also directed the world premiere of Itamar Moses' Back Back Back (The Old Globe), Chuck Mee's Queens Boulevard (Signature Theater Company), and Quiara Hudes' Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue (P73; 2007 Pulitzer Finalist). Classical credits include The Belle's Stratagem (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Jane Eyre (The Acting Company), and Henry V (Guthrie). Drama League Fellowship (2001), NEA/TCG Career Development Program (2007-9).

ROB URBINATI wrote Hazelwood Jr. High, directed by Scott Elliott for The New Group, and West Moon Street directed by Davis McCallum for Prospect Theatre Company. Both plays are published by Samuel French. His other plays include Cruel & Barbarous Treatment, Miss Julie in Hollywood, Shangri La, Karaoke Night at the Suicide Shack and Rebel Voices. Rob has directed for Culture Project, Classic Stage Company, Pearl Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Vital Theatre, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, The Fringe Festival, The New York Music Theatre Festival, New York University, and the Public Theater. Rob is Director of New Play Development at Queens Theatre in the Park, where he curates the Immigrant Voices Project.

What is Dark Nights at The New Group?

Dark Nights is a series of cultural conversations and readings designed to create a dialogue between our artists and our audience. In 90 minutes, we offer an inside look at The New Group's Current Productions and projects that inspire our associated artists.

 

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