The ReGroup Theatre Hosts Book Launch Party At Drama Book Shop July 7

To celebrate the release of the book, The ReGroup Theatre Company is teaming with The Drama Book Shop for a book launch event on Thursday July 7th at 6 PM. Members of the ReGroup will be reading scenes from the 3 plays in the book, and at 7 PM, there will be a reception and a book signing. Join us for an evening celebrating the 80th Anniversary of The Group Theatre at The Drama Book Shop, 250 W 40th St. Reservations are not required.

The ReGroup Theatre, in conjunction with the playwrights' families, proudly celebrate the publication of The "Lost" Group Theatre Plays: Volume One, featuring 1931- by Claire and Paul Sifton and Success Story and Gentlewoman both by John Howard Lawson. The book features a Foreword by Estelle Parsons, essays by George Bartenieff and Allie Mulholland and an Afterword by Jeffrey Lawson.

1931- was The Group Theatres' second production, and though tremendously received by the balcony crowd, it was dismissed by critics and soon closed. It would become one of the Group biggest commercial failures, though after a public reading in 2010, the ReGroup believes it is more topical now than it was 80 yrs ago. 1931- is the story of a young man, Adam, who loses his job early in the play and is confident that a man of his ability can quickly find a new job. As adept as he may be, there is no guarantee of employment, and we watch as Adam slowly succumbs to his environment until he is left with one choice... revolution.

John Howard Lawson, who would be known as one of the top 10 American Playwrights if not for the McCarthy Hearings, was the first playwright to contribute two plays for The Group Theatre. He was a role model for Clifford Odets, and his writing style is clearly evident when reading the great works of Odets. The first of Lawson's Group play was Success Story in 1932. It is a tale of an up-and-coming advertising associate Solomon Ginsberg, during and after the stock market crash. A clear predecessor to Odets's Golden Boy and even the television series Mad Men, the play questions exactly what qualifies who is a 'success'. It would run 121 performances and be turned into a filmed titled Success at Any Price starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Lawson's second Group play, Gentlewoman opened on Broadway only two days after his play The Pure in Heart. Though it would only last a few weeks, it became an important play in American Theatre History. Gentlewoman is concerned with socialite, Mrs. Gwyn Ballantine, who falls for the "inspired Bohemian" Rudy Flannigan. When Mrs. Ballantine finds out that her husband is guilty of Bernie Madoff type business deals, she is tempted to pursue her desires for the younger poet.
The 340 page book is currently available for sale through the ReGroup's website www.regrouptheatre.org, The Drama Book Shop and through Amazon.com for the suggested retail price of $26.99. It will become available through other local and online booksellers throughout the summer. It will also be for sale at the ReGroup's staged reading of Paradise Lost by Clifford Odets at 7 PM on July 18th, at The Irish Rep Mainstage Theatre, 132 W 22nd St., New York.

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