Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse revives Arthur Richman's never-published hit comedy from 1921: THE AWFUL TRUTH. Directed by 2-time NYIT Award nominee Michael Hardart at the Playhouse: 220 E 4th Street, New York City
Previews begin 10/18/15
Opening 10/25/15
Closing 10/18/14
Press Previews: Sunday 9/20 at 3 pm, Monday 9/21 and Thursday 9/24 at 7:30 pm
(Press also welcome at any performance, 9/25 - 10/18.)
Tickets are $25 general; $20 students/seniors; $10 children, and may be purchased online at
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/tickets or by telephone at
800-838-3006.
Before she can remarry, New York socialite Lucy Warriner needs to stifle the rumor that her first husband divorced her because she had an affair. So she enlists her ex to assure her new fiancé's family that she never did. He does so, but he tells Lucy privately that he knows full well she cheated on him. She denies it, and they give very different accounts of their failed marriage. But they cannot dispute one thing: they are only more in love now than they were then. With both wry wit and innocent warmth, the play asks what chance friendship, love, or marriage could ever have if they depend on knowing THE AWFUL TRUTH.
ARTHUR RICHMAN (1886 - 1944) began his career as a short story writer, contributing to The Smart Set (The Magazine of Cleverness), among other journals, but had an inauspicious start as a playwright. Following a well-received one-act vaudeville GREENSIDES, his comedy THE LITTLE BELGIAN opened in Philadelphia in 1918 only to be closed because of its unflattering portrayal of a British officer-ill-advised as America entered the WWI. Richman served in the Chemical Warfare Service during the war, and began writing again at war's end. He scored his first Broadway success with the comedy NOT SO LONG AGO in 1920. His next play was an acerbic portrait of a weak willed husband overwhelmed by the demands of his wife and daughter: THE AMBUSH, which ran 98 performances, and remains his best known along with THE AWFUL TRUTH. Later plays did not achieve as much renown as either of these earlier efforts, though he continued to write and be produced throughout his life. He was president of the S
ociety of American Dramatist and Composers from 1925 to 1927 and of the Author's League of America, out of which grew the Screen Writers Guild we now know, from 1928 to 1930. He was director of the American Theater Wing War Service during the Second World War, though he himself died of a heart attack before the war's end, in 1944.
THE AWFUL TRUTH premiered in September 1922 at
Henry Miller's Theater, produced by
Charles Frohman, with
Ina Claire and
Bruce McRae in the leads. Metropolitan begins performances 93 years to the day after the Broadway premiere, and as the script was never published, makes use of the original production's prompt book, incorporating line changes and notes penciled into the margins. Metropolitan knows of no major stage revival since the 144 performance Broadway run, but the play was made into films in 1925 (a silent film with
Agnes Martin), 1929 (starring
Ina Claire reprising her role, but now lost), and 1937 (starring
Irene Dunne and
Cary Grant), and 1953 (as the musical LET'S DO IT AGAIN, with
Jane Wyman).
Directed by MICHAEL HARDART (NYIT Award nominees Within the Law and A Man's World; Both Your Houses; Deep Are the Roots; It Pays to Advertise) the cast stars ALEXANDRA O'DALY (The Henrietta) and NATE WASHBURN, and features MARK AUGUST (Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts), J.STEPHEN BRANTLEY (The Boss, Pirira at Theatre 167), EDEN EPSTEIN, EMILY JON MITCHELL (The Hero), BENJAMIN RUSSELL (The Groundling at Axis Theatre), ERIN LEIGH SCHMOYER (From Rags to Riches, The Origin of Zoos, Delicacy, East Village Vignette). Set design is by ALEX ROE. Lighting by CHRISTOPHER WESTON. Costumes by SIDNEY FORTNER. Stage Manager: HEATHER OLMSTEAD.
METROPOLITAN PLAYHOUSE, now its 24th season, devoted to Hope, explores America's theatrical heritage through forgotten plays of the past and new plays of American historical and cultural moment. The theater received a 2011 OBIE Grant from The Village Voice for its ongoing productions that illuminate who we are by revealing where we have come from. Called an "indispensable East Village institution" by
nytheatre.com and "invaluable" by Back Stage, Metropolitan has earned accolades from The New York Times, The Village Voice, and The New Yorker. Other awards include Outstanding Performance Art Group from the Victorian Society New York, and 18 nominations for NYIT Awards since 2010, with winners
Lenore Wolf for short script,
Sidney Fortner for costumes,
Frank Anderson for lead actor. Recent productions include INJUNCTION GRANTED, THE MAN OF THE HOUR, ICEBOUND, WITHIN THE LAW, THE HERO, A MAN'S WORLD, BOTH YOUR HOUSES, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, DEEP ARE THE ROOTS, THE JAZZ SINGER, ONE-THI
RD OF A NATION, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, and DODSWORTH, as well as the Alphabet City and East Village Chronicles series.
Photos:
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/pressphotos
TICKET PRICES
$25 general admission, $20 students/seniors, and $10 children under 18.
Preview admission prices are $15.00 for those over 18; $10 for children.
To purchase tickets online visit
www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/tickets, or call
800 838 3006.
PERFORMANCES
September 18 - October 18
Thursday - Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm; Sunday afternoons at 3:00 pm.
Additional Performances
Monday, September 21 at 7:30 pm;
Wednesdays 10/7 and 10/14 at 3:00 pm; and
Saturdays 10/10, and 10/17 at 3:00 pm.
CALENDAR DETAILS
Previews:
Friday, September 18th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 19th at 7:30pm
Sunday, September 20th at 3:00 pm (Press Preview)
Monday, September 21st at 7:30 pm (Press Preview)
Thursday, September 24th at 7:30 pm (Press Preview)
Opening Night: Friday, September 25th at 7:30 pm
Closing: Sunday, October 18th at 3:00 pm
Performance Days:
Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sundays at 3:00 pm
PLUS
Monday, September 21 at 7:30 pm - Pay What You Will
Wednesdays 10/7 and 10/14 at 3:00 pm
Saturdays 10/10, and 10/17 at 3:00 pm
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