from the Footlights
May 2005
Hannah and Martin Discussion on May 17
Footlights meets for our monthly dinner-discussion of Kate Fodor’s drama, Hannah and Martin, at Casa Fiesta on Tuesday, May 17. Celebrated professor and philosopher Hannah Arendt and philosopher Martin Heidegger are the title characters in this new drama which is coming to Theater J after productions in Chicago and New York.
Arendt is forced to confront charges that Heidegger—her lover and mentor—is a Nazi sympathizer and must choose whether to indict or forgive him. Hannah and Martin is a sensual, deeply felt play of ideas that mines questions of forgiveness, academic independence, and the limits of loyalty when blinded by romantic desire.
Hannah and Martin is a winner of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award and winner of six Joseph Jefferson (“Jeff”) Awards for its Chicago production. Directed by Jeremy B. Cohen, the cast features Elizabeth Rich, John Lescault and Bill Hamlin.
Our guest speaker will be actor John Lescault—who plays Martin Heidegger. John is well known to local audiences and to Footlights. We have seen him in many of the plays we’ve discussed: Death and the Maiden (Theater J); Elizabeth the Queen (Folger Theatre); Heartbreak House, Our Town, Shakespeare, Moses and Joe Papp (Round House Theatre); Available Light, Angels in America, Part I (Signature Theatre). We are pleased to have him as our special guest to lead our discussion. Footlights member John Glynn will moderate.
Our meeting on Tuesday, May 17 will take place at Casa Fiesta, 4910 Wisconsin Ave, NW (202-244-8888). They are offering a fixed price buffet for $11 including tax and tip. Drinks and desserts are extra. Cash payment is preferred. A minimum additional $5 donation to Footlights (tax deductible) is encouraged. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. You may arrive at 7:30 for the discussion only. We end no later than 9:30.
Reservations are required. Call or e-mail Mark Gruenberg anytime for reservations, 202-898-4825 or [email protected]. If you must cancel please notify Mark so that someone else can attend.
Be sure to read Hannah and Martin before our discussion. Copies are not available at our bookstores. Footlights has made copies of the script by special arrangement. To get your copy of Hannah and Martin, send a check for $7.25 to: Beatrice Rouse, P.O. Box 5443, Rockville, MD 20848. Make your check payable to Beatrice, and please include your mailing address.
Hannah and Martin at Theater J on May 29
We will see Hannah and Martin at Theater J, DCJCC, 1529 16th St, NW in DC, on Sunday, May 29, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 or $26 for seniors (age 61+) and include a special post-show bonus: Five-by-Five: Writers Respond. Rather than a discussion of the play it will be another of Theater J’s 5X5 play reading series. There will be five five-minute plays written by local playwrights in response to Hannah and Martin.
Send your check to Footlights, c/o Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct, Rockville, MD 20852. Payment must be received by May 17; no refunds after this date. Call or e-mail Robin to let her know your check is on the way, 240-669-6300 or [email protected]. In case you cannot see Hannah and Martin with us, it is playing at Theater J from May 4 - June 5.
Lend Me a Tenor at Olney on May 20
Footlights will see Lend Me a Tenor at Olney Theatre Center on Friday, May 20, at 8 p.m. with post show talkback featuring the playwright himself, Ken Ludwig. Tickets are $27. Olney Theatre Center is located at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Olney.
You must act fast if you want to join us. Let Robin know your check is on the way, 240-669-6300 or [email protected]. Send your check for $27, payable to Footlights, c/o Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct, Rockville, MD 20852.
About Footlights
To get Footlights updates on-line, send any message — even blank—to [email protected]. Subscribers can post to our on-line list by sending brief messages to [email protected]. Visit our website at www.footlightsdc.org for updates. Address inquiries to Mark Gruenberg at 202-898-4825 or [email protected].
Please support Footlights, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Send your tax-deductible contributions to Footlights, c/o Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct, Rockville, MD 20852.
Planning for 2005-2006 Theater Season
The Footlights Board invites your suggestions of plays for discussion next season. We prefer plays that will be performed locally, though this is not required. Modern drama only, and available script at reasonable cost. We want to vary our selections among venues, including new and smaller theaters.
Two board members are now coordinating plans—Beatrice Rouse and Jerry Stilkind. Please contact them with your ideas either at meetings or by e-mail to Jerry at [email protected].
Meeting Locations
Do you know of a good restaurant suitable for our Footlights monthly meetings? Near Metro. Reasonably priced. Private space for our meeting. Room for about 50. Can do a simple menu or buffet. Let Phyllis Bodin, our hard-working site coordinator know about it at [email protected].
Calendar
Tuesday, May 17, 6:30 p.m., dinner-discussion of Hannah and Martin at Casa Fiesta with actor John Lescault (Martin)
Friday, May 20, 8 p.m., see Lend Me a Tenor at Olney Theatre ($27); post-show discussion with playwright Ken Ludwig
Sunday, May 29, 3 p.m., see Hannah and Martin at Theater J ($30 or $26 for seniors)
Meeting reservations: Mark Gruenberg, 202-898-4825 or [email protected]
Theater tickets: Robin Larkin, 240-669-6300 or [email protected]