Mint Theater Extends N.C. Hunter's A DAY BY THE SEA

Mint Theater Company has announced that the acclaimed revival of A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter, will now continue through October 23rd at their new home at the Beckett Theater as a resident company at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street between 9th and Dyer Avenues). It had been scheduled to end its limited run on September 24th. A Day by the Sea opened to rave reviews on August 25th.

Austin Pendleton directs a cast that features Ross Bickell, Curzon Dobell, Julian Elfer, Katie Firth, Philip Goodwin, Sean Gormley, Polly McKie, Kylie McVey, George Morfogen, Athan Sporek, and Jill Tanner.

Austin Pendleton is an acclaimed actor, playwright and director, having won Drama Desk and Obie Awards, as well as a Tony Award nomination for his direction of The Little Foxes starring Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton. He is also the subject of a new documentary, which recently had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival: Starring Austin Pendleton, directed by Gene Gallerano & David H. Holmes. "The most famous actor you've never heard of; Austin Pendleton reflects on his life and craft while his A-list peers discuss his vast influence and what it means to be an original in a celebrity-obsessed world." The film includes interviews with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Olympia Dukakis, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

A Day by the Sea is a warm, human and often humorous depiction of the "crisis" of middle age. Julian Anson, a once-promising Foreign Service employee, confronts professional disappointment and personal failure while picnicking along the English seaside. Jolted into the realization that maybe it's not too late-he seizes an opportunity to correct his past mistakes and start fresh-but will the results be any different?

N.C. Hunter (1908-1971) was one of the leading English dramatists of the 1950s and early 1960s. Hunter's first success came in 1951: Waters of the Moon. A nuanced portrayal of faded gentility struggling for survival, the play opened at the Theatre Royal in London with a cast that included Dame Sybil Thorndike and Dame Edith Evans. The production ran for 835 performances and established Hunter reputation. As theatrical revolution-spearheaded by John Osborne and his school of "angry young men"-exploded around him, Hunter kept his head down and provided moving portraits of a people questioning their own purpose in chaotic post-war England.

In 2013, Mint produced Hunter's comedy, A Picture of Autumn, which had been presented for a single night only in London in 1951, for a one-night 'try-out' performance by the Repertory Players at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Although it met with critical applause, the play was not picked up for a commercial run.

Mint was awarded an OBIE for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition," and a special Drama Desk Award for "unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit."

Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30pm with matinees Saturday & Sunday at 2:30pm. No performance September 27th; Special added Wednesday matinees at 2:30pm on September 28th and October 19th. All performances are at The Beckett Theatre at Theater Row (410 West 42nd Street between 9th and Dyer Avenues).

Tickets for all performances after September 24th will be $65 (including $2.25 theater restoration fee) and can be purchased online at Telecharge.com, by phone at 212/239-6200 or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office. For more information, visit minttheater.org.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine

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