FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2010
Media Contact: Sarah Pressler
240.644.1387
press@roundhousetheatre.org
Round House Theatre
presents the U.S. regional theatre premiere of
Phyllis Nagy’s stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s
The Talented Mr. Ripley
September 8 – 26, 2010 at Round House Theatre Bethesda
240.644.1100 or roundhousetheatre.org
Tickets priced from $10 to $60
Introducing “$10 Tuesday,” with $10 Side Orchestra & Side Balcony
tickets for adults of all ages
Specially priced $10 & $15 tickets available at other performances for
patrons age 30 & under
(BETHESDA, MD) Round House Theatre launches its 2010/11 season with The Talented Mr. Ripley, in a production directed by Producing Artistic Director Blake Robison. Round House is the first regional theatre in the United States to perform Phyllis Nagy’s gripping stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic thriller.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is sponsored in part by generous support from Jan & Don Boardman.
The Talented Mr. Ripley runs September 8 – 26, 2010 at Round House Theatre Bethesda, 4545 East-West Highway. Tickets are $10 – $60 and may be purchased by phone at 240.644.1100, online at roundhousetheatre.org, or at the Round House box office in Bethesda. Groups of 10 or more should call 240.644.1387. Ripley is recommended for age 17 & up.
The Tuesday, September 21 performance launches Round House’s new “$10 Tuesday” program. Side Orchestra and Side Balcony seats at this performance are available for adults of all ages for the specially discounted price of $10 – call 240.644.1100 or order online at rounhousetheatre.org. The “$10 Tuesday” program is made possible through the support of the Bernard Family Foundation.
Specially priced tickets for patrons age 30 and under are available at all other performances: $10 Wednesday through Friday and $15 Saturday and Sunday – contact the box office at 240.644.1100 as these age 30 and under tickets are not available online.
Enigmatic conman Tom Ripley is determined to gain wealth and social status by any means possible. The perfect opportunity arises when American financier Herbert Greenleaf sends him to Italy to track down his son, who has been living the high life there with his beautiful girlfriend. His mission takes on a sinister twist as the lives of Ripley and young Richard Greenleaf become inextricably entwined. Helen Hayes Award winner Karl Miller is Ripley, an intelligent, suave, charming psychopath, in this electrifying thriller.
Phyllis Nagy’s stage version of The Talented Mr. Ripley has been successfully produced in the United Kingdom and Australia. The Financial Times wrote that “the talented Phyllis Nagy gets closer to the black heart of Highsmith’s novel than you would have thought possible.” The Express called the play “superb” and “clever.”
Blake Robison says, “The Talented Mr. Ripley is a terrific thrill ride to open our 2010/2011 season at Round House Bethesda. Phyllis Nagy has done a superb job in bringing Patricia Highsmith’s dark classic to the stage.”
The Author
Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) saw her first novel, Strangers on a Train (1950), made into a successful film by Alfred Hitchcock. Still, Highsmith is more famous for her creation of Tom Ripley, the charming and amoral protagonist who was featured in several of her novels. He first appeared in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), murdering a wealthy friend and assuming his identity (and fortune). Ripley’s adventures continued in Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley’s Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980), and Ripley Under Water (1981). Highsmith wrote a number of other novels and short stories, often macabre, over her long career. She is considered one of the more literary novelists in the crime genre. From 1963 until her death in 1995, the reclusive Highsmith lived in Europe.
The Playwright
Phyllis Nagy was born in New York City. She lived in London for 15 years, where she was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre during Stephen Daldry’s tenure as artistic director. Her plays Weldon Rising, The Strip, Disappeared, and Never Land, all premiered at the Royal Court Theatre. Her other plays include Butterfly Kiss (Almeida Theatre); Trip’s Cinch (Actor’s Theater of Louisville); and adaptations of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (Watford Palace Theatre) and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (Classic Stage Company and Denver Center Theater). Her translation of Chekhov’s The Seagull premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre. She has been commissioned to write plays for London’s Royal National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Mrs. Harris, with Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley, was Nagy’s first feature film. It was nominated for multiple Golden Globes, SAG, and Guild awards, as well as 12 Emmy Awards, including nods for Nagy as writer and director. Nagy has received the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Best New Play Award, the Mobil Playwriting Prize, a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Gracie Allen Award for Best Director, two National Endowment for the Arts playwriting fellowships, and a McKnight Fellowship, among other honors. She has also directed extensively in theatres throughout Europe, including the award-winning London premiere production of Disappeared and the Italian-language premiere of Never Land in Rome. Her work for radio includes “Delores,” a contemporary reworking of Euripides’ “Andromache,” for BBC Radio. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
The Cast
The cast includes Helen Hayes Award winner Karl Miller as Tom Ripley, Billy Finn, Naomi Jacobson, Marcus Kyd, John Lescault, Kaytie Morris, and Sasha Olinick.
The Artistic Team
Blake Robison (Director) is in his sixth season as Producing Artistic Director of Round House Theatre, where he launched the Literary Works Project to re-imagine contemporary and classical novels on stage for modern audiences. Previous directing at Round House includes the world premiere of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the world premiere of How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, Lord of the Flies, Treasure Island, Crime and Punishment, A Prayer for Owen Meany (Helen Hayes nomination), and Camille. Other directing includes Pride and Prejudice at Utah Shakespearean Festival, Hotel Cassiopeia at University of Maryland, The Winter’s Tale at Folger Theatre, an international tour of Macbeth, several operas, and multiple seasons at Clarence Brown Theatre, National Shakespeare Company, and Vermont Stage. His adaptation of Alice McDermott’s award-winning novel Charming Billy debuts at Round House in February 2011. Mr. Robison is a member of the Board of Trustees of Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA). He is a graduate of Williams College and UNC-Chapel Hill and lives in Silver Spring with his wife and sons.
The artistic team includes scenic designer Narelle Sissons, costume designer Kate Turner-Walker, lighting designer Kenton Yeager, composer/sound designer Matthew M. Nielson, co-sound designer Elisheba Ittoop, props designer Andrea Moore, assistant director Ann Fraistat, dance consultant Kelly Mayfield, and stage manager Jennifer Schwartz.
Ripley Performance Calendar, Ticket Info, & Audience Events
The Talented Mr. Ripley runs from September 8 – 26, 2010 at Round House Theatre Bethesda, 4545 East-West Highway. The theatre is one block from the Bethesda station on Metro’s Red Line.
Tuesday and Wednesday performances begin at 7:30 pm; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening performances begin at 8 p.m.; and matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday begin at 3 p.m.
The Talented Mr.Ripley is recommended for age 17 & up. Its adult content includes language, violence, and situations.
Tickets may be purchased by phone at 240.644.1100, online at roundhousetheatre.org, or in person at the Round House box office in Bethesda. Tickets range in price from $10 to $60.
Groups of 10 or more should call 240.644.1387.
The Tuesday, September 21 performance launches Round House’s new “$10 Tuesday” program. Side Orchestra and Side Balcony seats at this performance are available for adults of all ages for the specially discounted price of $10 – call 240.644.1100 or order online at rounhousetheatre.org. “$10 Tuesday” is made possible through the support of the Bernard Family Foundation.
Specially priced tickets for patrons age 30 and under are available at each performance: $10 Tuesday through Friday and $15 Saturday and Sunday. Proof of age is required. Limit of two tickets per person. Call 240.644.1100 – these specially priced tickets are not available online.
Round House offers discounts on non-subscription tickets to patrons 65 and older. The price is $40 per ticket (including service charge) for center orchestra or center balcony seating at any performance in Bethesda. Call 240.644.1100 for information.
Pay-What-You-Can performances – Wednesday, September 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, September 11 at 3 p.m.
Tickets for Pay-What-You-Can performances go on sale in person one hour prior to curtain (cash and exact change only, limit of 2 tickets per person).
Designer Discussion – Wednesday, September 8 at 6:45 p.m.
A pre-show look at the production’s costume, set, lighting, and sound designs from the professionals who make them happen.
Directorially Speaking Discussion – Friday, September 10 at 7:15 p.m.
Director Blake Robison discusses the production in a pre-performance talk.
Audio-described performance – Saturday, September 18 at 3pm
Parents’ Matinee – Sunday, September 19 at 3 p.m.
Patrons can drop off children (ages 3-12, must be potty trained) to an RHT teaching artist while they’’re seeing the show at this designated Sunday matinee. The kids will enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of theatre games and arts activities. Reservations for childcare are required in advance and must be made by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15 by calling 240.644.1100.
Post-Show Talkbacks – Sunday, September 19 and Sunday, September 26
These Sunday matinees feature a post-show talk with members of the cast.
In conjunction with Fall for the Book, Round House will feature Joan Schenkar, author of the new biography, The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith, at the post-show talkback on Sunday, September 19. Entertainment Weekly rated her book a straight “A,” noting that it “captures the writer in all her sullen, sinister, ambivalent glory.” The biography was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Agatha Award, and the Publishing Triangle Award, and recently won a 2010 Lambda Literary Award.
Sign-interpreted performance – Saturday, September 25 at 3pm
Reservations for sign interpreting services must be made by Wednesday, September 15.
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