Lillian Hellman's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR at The Gamm

The Children's Hour, Lillian Hellman's startingly relevant Depression-era play opens at The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) on January 12. Director Rachel Walshe (Grizzly Mama, Marie Antoinette) directs a cast of Gamm veteran actors and newcomers, including local high school students, in an emotional journey exploring the power of a lie and the nature of public shaming. The Children's Hour features Gamm Resident Actor Karen Carpenter (Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire) and Madeleine Lambert (Marie in Marie Antoinette) as the unwitting headmistresses of a girls' boarding school who are rumored to be having an affair. Smithfield High School senior Grace Viveiros , whose recent Gamm debut as Thomasina Coverly in Arcadia was critically praised, is the disgruntled student whose single malicious lie destroys many lives.

The Children's Hour premiered on Broadway in 1934. The highly controversial production was banned in Boston, Chicago and London and was denied the Pulitzer Prize most likely because of its subject matter. It was, however, a major commercial success, setting the then-record for the longest single-venue run in theater history. It also earned Hellman a lasting place in American theater. The playwright's other Broadway successes included The Little Foxes and Toys in the Attic.

"The Children's Hour is a landmark American classic. Among the very first plays to explore homosexual, if unrequited, love, it also reminds us of the dark power of rumor, gossip, innuendo and the creeping insidiousness of mob mentality," said Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella. "In our 'viral' era when public shaming and the destruction of a reputation and thus a life is always an ill-judged tweet away, Hellman's masterpiece remains as necessary today as it was 80 years ago." The Children's Hour runs from January 12-February 12 at The Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, RI. Tickets are $44 and $52; preview performances (January12-15) are $33. Call 401-723-4266 or order online at gammtheatre.org.

ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
Setting: 1930s New England, a girls' boarding school. Mary, a disgruntled and notoriously deceitful student, thinks she's being treated unfairly. Stopping at nothing to get even, she starts a rumor that the headmistresses, Karen and Martha, are having an affair. The ensuing scandal throws the women's careers into chaos and pushes relationships to the brink, with surprising and devastating consequences for everyone. A controversial success when it opened on Broadway in 1934, Hellman's groundbreaking play about the culture of fear and the power of public shaming is startlingly relevant today.

Season support from: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

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