Mint Theater Co. Announces 'Is Life Worth Living?' And 'So Help Me God!' As Part Of 2009/2010 Season Slate

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-wining Mint Theater Company today announced that it its 2009 - ‘10 season will kick off with two plays celebrating the art and antics of the actor. First up will be Lennox Robinson's comedy, Is Life Worth Living? starring real-life couple JorDan Baker and Kevin Kilner as a pair of married actors heading up a troupe of traveling players in Ireland who bring their high-toned repertory of Russian and Scandinavian drama to the seaside resort town of Inish. Is Life Worth Living? will play from August 19th thru Oct. 11th at the Mint's usual home in the heart of the theater district, at 311 W. 43rd Street.

Following that, Mint will present two-time Emmy Award winner Kristen Johnston in a hilarious backstage farce by Maurine Dallas Watkins entitled So Help Me God! which will play downtown at the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher Street beginning November 18th. Watkins wrote the play Chicago upon which the musical is based, as well as numerous films including Roxie Hart, Libeled Lady and Professional Sweetheart.

Mint Artistic Director Jonathan Bank will direct the rare revival of Lennox Robinson's Is Life Worth Living? starring JorDan Baker and Kevin Kilner.. Performances will begin August 19th, with Opening Night set for September 14th. In addition to Ms Baker and Mr. Kilner, the cast includes Leah Curney, Bairbre Dowling, Brian Keane, John Keating, Laurie Kennedy, Jeremy Lawrence, Erin Moon, Grant Neale, Paul O'Brien, and Graham Outerbridge.

"Legit repertory troupe comes to a small village in Ireland and, after a week or so of Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg the town is off its nut." That's how Variety described Lennox Robinson's comedy when it played London in 1933 and that, in a nutshell, is the story of this gloriously goofy play that imagines the impact a steady diet of serious drama might have on the amiable residents of the seaside town of Inish. The fun begins when the town elders decide to improve the tone of the place. Enter Hector de la Mare and his wife Constance Constantia of the De La Mare Repertory company-committed exclusively to "psychological and introspective drama: the great plays of Russia, an Ibsen or two, a little Strindberg; because," as Hector puts it, "they may revolutionize some person's soul." Whether or not the souls of Inish require revolution is the question this comedy poses while delightfully exaggerating and celebrating the transformative power of the theater. In choosing Is Life Worth Living? Mint pokes some fun at themselves. One of the plays in the De La Mare repertory is Tolstoy's The Power of Darkness, which Mint produced in 2007.

"I suppose you would call it farce, "Robinson told The New York Times in 1933," But I'd rather not call it that because-well, you know what people think you mean when you call a play farce." Is Life Worth Living? played on Broadway three times in the 1930's-but has not been seen in New York since. Brooks Atkinson writes, "You are permitted to respect the theme of Mr. Robinson's play and to like every character who is in it. If that is not pure comedy, what is?"

Robinson was a key figure in the Irish theater for decades. Critic and fellow playwright St. John Ervine described him as "easily the most skilful dramatist that the Irish theatre has produced." His comedy The Whiteheaded Boy was second only to Playboy of the Western World as the most performed play in Ireland through the 1960's. The author of more than 30 plays, his style defies categorization-during his prolific career, Robinson penned comedies, tragedies, radio plays, poetry, an historical novel, and short stories.

Is Life Worth Living? will have scenic design by Susan Zeeman Rogers, costume design by Martha Hally, lighting design by Jeff Nellis, and sound design by Jane Shaw.

Performances for Is Life Worth Living? will be Tuesday through Thursday at 7 PM, Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets are $35 (Aug. 19th - 30th only), $45 (Sept. 1st - 20th only) and $55 (Sept. 22 -Oct. 11th). All performances will take place on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street. To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit www.minttheater.org

Mint Theater Company will present its second offering of the season, So Help Me God! by Maurine Dallas Watkins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street), beginning November 18th. Kristen Johnston, two-time Emmy Award winner for her performance in "Third Rock from the Sun" will perform the role of Lily, a fabulous dramatic diva who must fend off a challenge from her ambitious but naïve understudy. Watkins play was written 20 years before All About Eve. So Help Me God! will be directed by Martin Platt.

Maurine Dallas Watkins was a journalist with the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s, covering the crime beat - but her real aspiration was to write plays. She studied playwriting at Yale in George Pierce Baker's famous 47 Workshop and wrote the play Chicago for a class assignment. Originally titled The Brave Little Woman, Chicago made a great sensation on Broadway in 1927 under the direction of George Abbot. Watkins' play was the basis for the wildly successful Broadway musical, now at the Ambassador Theatre. Shortly after the success of Chicago, Watkins went to Hollywood where she became a successful screenwriter. Her credits include Libeled Lady and Roxie Hart, based on her play, Chicago.

So Help Me God! circled New York in October of 1929 but did not land on Broadway, thanks in no small part to the Stock Market Crash. The comedy tried out "out-of-town" on the "Subway Circuit" including Werba's Flatbush Theater and the Boulevard Theater in Queens.

Kristen Johnston's New York stage credits include The Women, Aunt Dan and Lemon and The Skin of Our Teeth.

Mint Theater Company, "that truffle hound of half-buried treasures from the past" (Village Voice), has a celebrated reputation for re-discovering worthy but neglected gems and has brought new vitality to timeless but timely plays since 1992. The Mint was awarded an Obie for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition." Mint was awarded a special Drama Desk Award for "Unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit."

Advance tickets are available by calling the Mint box office at 212/315-0231 or go to www.minttheater.org. The Lucille Lortel Theater is located at 121 Christopher Street.

Photo of Kristen Johnston by Adam Nemser/PHOTOlink

To post a comment, you must register and login.