TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, the critically-acclaimed and Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway company "dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit," presents the first New York revival in 30 years of The Killing of Sister George, the controversial 1964 play by Frank Marcus. The first production of the company's 22nd Season will be directed by TACT Company Member Drew Barr, who directed the company's Fall 2012 production of Brian Friel's Lovers. Performances begin at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) tonight, September 23, 2014. Opening night is set for Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pm. Performances will continue through November 1, 2014.
In The Killing of Sister George, gin-swilling, cigar-chomping June Buckridge plays the beloved Sister George on the popular BBC Radio drama,Applehurst. When it looks like BBC executives might kill off Sister George to raise ratings, June's precarious personal world heads into a tailspin.
The cast includes TACT Company Members Cynthia Harris (Lost in Yonkers, The Cocktail Party, TACT Co-Artistic Director Emeritus), Margot White (The Farnsworth Invention, Romersholm), and Guest Artists Dana Smith-Croll (You Can't Take it With You - TACT) and Caitlin O'Connell (Mothers and Sons, 33 Variations), making her TACT debut.The creative team is comprised of Narelle Sissons (sets and costumes), Mary Louise Geiger (lights), and Daniel Kluger (sound and original music). Jeff Meyers is Production Stage Manager and Kelly Burns is Assistant Stage Manager.
The Killing of Sister George, the groundbreaking drama about the nature of sexual identity, power and politics in a changing world, was first produced in England in 1964, where after an unsuccessful tour it opened in the West End's Duke of York Theatre with a cast that included Beryl Reid, Eileen Atkins and Lally Bowers and became something of a sensation. The Evening Standard named it Best Play for 1965 (joint award with John Osborne's A Patriot For Me) and awarded Ms. Atkins as Best Actress. The following year, the ladies travelled across the pond to open at the Belasco Theatre, while the West End production transferred to the St. Martin's Theatre with a cast that included Hermione Baddeley in the title role. Ms. Reid was awarded the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of June while Ms. Atkins was nominated. In 1968, the play was adapted for the screen and the film starred Ms. Reid (recreating her stage role), Susannah York and Coral Browne. Due to the graphic nature of one of the scenes, the film received the newly created 'X' rating severely limiting its screening ability and it quickly disappeared. Ms. Reid was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama. TACT's production will be the first time the play has been seen in New York in 30 years.
The Killing of Sister George will play the following performance schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 - $58.00 and are available by visiting www.telecharge.com or calling (212) 239-6200. Tickets are also available at the Theatre Row box office (410 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues) between 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily. To learn about the benefits of TACT membership, visit www.tactnyc.org or call (212) 645-8228.
TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (Scott Alan Evans & Jenn Thompson, Co-Artistic Directors) is dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit, with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life.
TACT's celebrated company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Since that time, they have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on their specific artistic vision and collective body of work. TACT Company Members, whose cumulative experience includes scores of significant roles on and off Broadway, in the country's finest regional theatres, and in many films and television shows, have received Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards, in addition to several Tony nominations.
Heralded by the Wall Street Journal as "The 2012 Company of the Year," TACT has enjoyed a run of successful productions since it first made its move from its "in-concert" style performances to fully-staged productions in the 2006/07 season. Since that time TACT has become a celebrated presence Off-Broadway with their presentations of such diverse and critically-acclaimed works as Tennessee Williams' The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, (included in The New York Times "Top 10 Theatre Picks for 2008"), David Storey's Home, The Sea by Edward Bond, Sir Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, Arthur Miller'sIncident at Vichy, Sidney Howard's The Late Christopher Bean, John Cecil Holm and George Abbott's Three Men on a Horse, T.S Eliot's The Cocktail Party(included in the Wall Street Journal's "Best of 2010" list), the 2012 Drama Desk-nominated production of Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers, Anita Loos' Happy Birthday and Brian Friel's Lovers. Last season, the company presented productions of William Inge's Natural Affection and Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy.
Photo Credit: Mareille Solan Photography
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