Stage Guild Starts the New Year with IN PRAISE OF LOVE

The Washington Stage Guild continues its 29th season with IN PRAISE OF LOVE by Terence Rattigan
The Washington Stage Guild continues its 2014-15 Season of Love and/or Marriage with a long-overdue revival of Terence Rattigan's witty and moving IN PRAISE OF LOVE.

Rattigan, the author of The Winslow Boy and Separate Tables, tells the story of a family whose barbed exchanges and seeming estrangement mask genuine care and, to their own surprise, love. IN PRAISE OF LOVE, inspired in part by Rex Harrison's marriage to the actress Kay Kendall, had its American premiere in 1974 at the Kennedy Center, but hasn't been produced in the Washington area since then. The Stage Guild, dedicated to producing eloquent plays of idea and argument, passion and wit, presents the play that showcases Rattigan's biting humor and deeply felt emotion as part of its 29th season.
"Terence Rattigan was one of the most successful British playwrights of the 20th century, very much in the company of Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham," says Stage Guild Artistic Director Bill Largess. "For decades his works were staples in the West End and on Broadway and his comedies and dramas were often adapted into films. After his death in the 1970s he's been rather overlooked, but recent revivals in London have shown how well he deserved his popularity. For a company so dedicated to plays that exploit the power of words, it's amazing it's taken us this long to produce one of Rattigan's, and we're excited to offer his brilliant dialogue and complex characters to the Washington audience after such a long absence. And after her lovely production last year of The Old Masters, Laura Giannarelli was an immediate choice to direct IN PRAISE OF LOVE."
Director Laura Giannarelli says, "Rattigan's characters hide profound emotions behind a veil of worldly reserve, biting wit, and ironic humor. Their expressions of love for one another are unorthodox and complicated. In addition to the connection drawn between the characters of the play and Rex Harrison's marriage to Kay Kendall, critics have also drawn parallels to Rattigan's own battle with leukemia in 1962 and again when his cancer returned in 1968. For me, these real life sources of inspiration only underline the ring of truth I find in the play." Giannarelli is a founding member of the Washington Stage Guild, where she has appeared in more than 40 productions over the past 28 seasons, most recently, as the Serpent and Frances Barnabas in G.B. Shaw's Back to Methuselah, Part I. Her directing credits at the Stage Guild include last season's hit The Old Masters, as well as Bill Largess's solo Dante's Inferno, and Village Wooing. This spring, she directed Faith Healer for Quotidian Theatre.
Company member Conrad Feininger portrays Sebastian Cruttwell, the character not only based on Rex Harrison, but also played by Harrison himself in the United States. A company member for more than 20 years, some of his favorite theatre experiences have been at the Guild, including last season's The Old Masters, Pygmalion, The Play's the Thing (in two mountings), A Skull in Conammara (Helen Hayes nomination), and Camping With Henry and Tom (Mary Goldwater Award). Favorite roles at other theaters in the area include Salieri in Amadeus (Rep Stage-Everyman Theatre co-production) and the title role in Macbeth for the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival.
Julie-Ann Elliott returns to the Stage Guild to play Lydia Cruttwell. She performed last with the Stage Guild as Anna in Old Times in 1994. In the past 20 years, she has performed in over two dozen shows at Olney Theatre Center, including The Tempest, Angel Street, Dinner with Friends, The Millionairess, The Constant Wife, Hedda Gabler, Tartuffe and in the Potomac Theatre Project's Crave, Arcadia, and Stanley. Elsewhere in the region she has worked at Center Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Theater J, Round House, Studio Theatre, Folger Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Metro Stage, the Kennedy Center, and Arena Stage. Her TV and film credits include Veep and Jamesy Boy.
Company member Steven Carpenter, who returns as Mark Walters, has 19 years of experience in the area, including appearances in 1776, A Christmas Carol, and The Road From Appomattox at Ford's Theatre; Amadeus at Round House Theatre; as Hamlet at the Folger Theatre; The Goat, Lonesome West, and Translations at Rep Stage; Blithe Spirit at 1st Stage; and The Actor's Nightmare at Bay Theatre. His numerous productions at Washington Stage Guild include Pygmalion (as Henry Higgins), The Philanderer (Helen Hayes nomination), The Countess, and Anna Karenina. Regional credits include Cecil in Equivocation at Virginia Rep, Leontes in The Winter's Tale at the Baltimore and Virginia Shakespeare Festivals; The Underpants at Wayside Theatre; and A Man For All Seasons at Mill Mountain. He has directed at Rep Stage, Bay Theatre, Theater J, Washington Stage Guild, and Theatre Alliance (Helen Hayes nomination for Thief River.)
Completing the cast is Christopher Herring as Joey Cruttwell, returning to the Stage Guild after appearing last season in Inventing Van Gogh. He is an instructor of stage and film acting at his alma mater, the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. He is also a member of Crash of Rhinos theater and film company (winners of multiple Best Acting awards in the DC 48-Hour Film Festival).
Sets are by Carl F. Gudenius, with lighting by resident designer Marianne Meadows, costumes by Sigrid Johannesdottir, and sound by Frank DiSalvo, Jr. The stage manager is Arthur Nordlie.
The 2014-15 season will continue with the second part of the Stage Guild's multi-year presentation of George Bernard Shaw's BACK TO METHUSELAH (February 19 to March 15 ), as the visionary cycle leaps into the future and examines the effect of human advances on relationships, and conclude with Frederick Lonsdale's ON APPROVAL (April 23 to May 17). IN PRAISE OF LOVE by Terence Rattigan
January 1 to January 25, 2015; press night Saturday, January 3 at 8 p.m.
Directed by Laura Giannarelli
"The English vice is not flagellation or pederasty, it's our refusal to admit to our emotions."

A seemingly fractured family whose ties to each other are deeper than any of them realize find that sometimes, unkindness is the kindest thing. Rattigan, the author of The Winslow Boy and Separate Tables, is characteristically witty in this play based on the marriage of Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, one of the early hits at the Kennedy Center.
Featuring Conrad Feininger, Julie-Ann Elliott, Steven Carpenter, and Christopher Herring Performance times and prices for all productions
Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. $40.00
Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. $50.00
Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. $40.00
Discounts are available for senior citizens, students, and groups.
Season passes are available, offering incredible savings for the entire Stage Guild season.

Location for all performances
The Undercroft Theatre of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
The Undercroft Theatre is located in the heart of downtown Washington, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and 9th Street, NW. It's steps from the Convention Center, and blocks from the National Mall, the Smithsonian, the Verizon Center, Chinatown, and restaurants galore!

The Undercroft Theatre is within easy walking distance from the following Metro stations:
Gallery Place/Chinatown-Exit SE corner of 9th and G Sts., NW (Green, Yellow and Red lines)
Mt. Vernon Square-Exit SW corner of 7th and M Sts, NW (Green and Yellow lines)
Metro Center-Exit SE corner of 11th and G Sts., NW (Blue, Red and Orange lines)

For information and reservations, please call 240 582-0050, email info@stageguild.org or go to www.stageguild.org

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