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FROM THE FOOTLIGHTS - April 2000Miller & "Sons": Our First ReturnOn Thursday, April 13, as part of our series Time and Memory, Footlights for the first time revisits a playwright, Arthur Miller, when we discuss "All My Sons" (1947). In this "intelligent and thoughtful drama" (New York Sun), set just after World War II, a businessman's friends & family struggle with their growing awareness of his complicity in the wartime death of 22 American pilots--including his own son. "Engrossing" (New York Journal American), "impassioned and impressive" (New York Post), "All My Sons" builds to a "startling and terrifying climax" (The New York Times). Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman" (1949). Our meeting will feature director Molly Smith, artistic director of Arena Stage since fall 1998. Under her leadership Arena has featured works by American playwrights; Smith herself has directed plays by Tennessee Williams & Paula Vogel. Her production of "All My Sons" starts rehearsals April 18 & previews May 19. To attend our April meeting you MUST have a numbered ticket. If you don't have one, get on our waiting list by contacting Mark Gruenberg (202-638-0444 or [email protected]). We will meet at Luna Books, 1633 P St., NW (3d floor), 3 blocks E of Dupont Circle. Dinner begins at 6:30; our discussion takes place 7:30-9:30. "Sons" rise for a special Footlights discount at Backstage Books, 2101 P St., NW, Olsson's Books & Records, 1307 19th St., NW, & Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW. "Sons" Shine at ArenaOn Thursday, June 8, at 8 p.m., Footlights will attend "All My Sons" at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St., SW, 2 blocks from Waterfront metro. Tickets are $26 & include a post-performance cast discussion. We must receive payment by May 15--also the refund deadline--but we'll sell out long before then. So mail your check today to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct., Rockville, MD 20852 ([email protected]). Robin will distribute tickets in the lobby just before the performance. "Maiden" MemoriesWe continue our series Time and Memory on Monday, May 15 with "Death and the Maiden" (1991), by Chilean-American playwright Ariel Dorfman. In a country that has just restored democracy after a brutal dictatorship, a torture survivor kidnaps a stranger whose voice she thinks she recognizes as that of the man who tortured her. "Ingenious" (New York Times), "stunning" (The Guardian), & "spellbinding" (Wall Street Journal), "Death and the Maiden" is "one of those rare plays" that "grasp the pulse of the century" (Financial Times (London)). Our meeting will feature Professor Saul Sosnowski, director of the University of Maryland's Latin American Studies Center & author of the forthcoming study "The Politics of Memory and Oblivion." At 2 p.m. Friday April 14, at the University of Maryland in College Park, playwright Ariel Dorfman will speak on the topic "Can the Margins Take Over the Center? A Journey from Santiago to Broadway and Hollywood." The event is free & open to the public. For further information e-mail [email protected]. At 8 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, 4444 Arlington Blvd., Arlington, we will watch a video of the 1995 film "Death and the Maiden," starring Sigourney Weaver & Ben Kingsley. Admission is $2 & includes refreshments. For reservations & directions, call George Manno at 703-370-1838. Backstage MovesOn May 1, Backstage Books--DC's only theater bookstore--will move from 2101 P St., NW, to 545 8th St., SE (Eastern Market metro). Through April, Backstage will give Footlights members a special 10-40% discount on every play in the store--including all our plays through July. Stock up now! CalendarThursday, April 13, 6:30 p.m.: "All My Sons," Luna Books Saturday, June 3, 8 p.m.: "Death and the Maiden" video, Arl. U-U Church |