FROM THE FOOTLIGHTS - March 1996

"SALESMAN" A SMASH SUCCESS!

Willy Loman finally proved "well liked" when he attracted our biggest crowd ever February 13 for Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." Thanks to Maria Giannuzzi for opening the discussion!

"DEATH" IN MARCH

On Wednesday March 13 we will discuss August Strindberg's "The Dance of Death" (parts I and II). Historians credit Strindberg (1849-1912) with having invented expressionistic drama. In 1976 Michael Meyer called Strindberg "more than Ibsen, the model for so many of our younger playwrights, both in England and in America." "The Dance of Death" is one of Strindberg's most often performed plays, and Strindberg considered it his best. The London Times praised its "beauty and dignity and power," reporting that it left "an astonishing impression of genius." Eugene O'Neill once remarked that of all plays he had read, the one he most wanted to have written was "The Dance of Death."

We will meet upstairs at Carmella Kitty's, 1602 17th St., NW (at Q St., just east of DuPont Circle) (202-667-5937). Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and our discussion, led by Playwrights Forum member and retired philosophy professor Gerald Hurwitz, starts at 7:30. ***WE MAY NEED TO LIMIT ATTENDANCE SO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION EARLY*** by calling Laurie Cullen at (703) 461-8752 or by e-mailing Laurie at [email protected] (ask for a confirmation of your e-mail message).

Start looking early for this play; it may be hard to find. You can get the script for the current Arena Stage production for $10 plus postage by calling David Sobelsohn (202-484-8303). Otherwise the play is commercially available only in collection: Strindberg, Five Plays (two editions: Signet Classics & University of California Press), and Strindberg Plays: Two (Methuen Drama).

These bookstores have promised to have copies available and to give us a discount: Backstage Books, 2101 P St., NW (775-1488) (with coupon from our snail-mail newsletter); Chapters, 1512 K St., NW (347-5495); Super Crown, 11 DuPont Circle, NW (319-1374); and Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW (364-1919).

INVITATION TO "THE DANCE"

Footlights will attend "The Dance of Death" (part I only) on Tuesday, March 19, 1996, at 7:30 p.m. at the Arena Stage, Maine Ave. and Sixth St., SW, one block west of Waterfront Metro station (green line). Tickets are $25 and include a post-performance discussion with members of the cast. Call Alan Friedman (202-244-8166) to learn if tickets are still available. We may also have scholarship tickets for $10 each. Call or e-mail David Sobelsohn (202-484-8303; [email protected]) for details. We will distribute tickets near the box office just before the play begins.

APRIL "MOON"

On Thursday April 18 (Patriots' Day), we will discuss Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the Misbegotten." "Moon," one of O'Neill's last and greatest plays, picks up the story of O'Neill's older brother Jamie some years after the events of "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Also mark your calendars for Monday, May 13, when we will celebrate our 10th meeting, our founder's 43d birthday, and Mother's Day.

NO APRIL FOOL

On Monday, April 1, playwright Tina Howe, along with Woolly Mammoth artistic director Howard Shalwitz and actor Mitchell Patrick, will speak at the Smithsonian on the process of staging Howe's play "Birth and After Birth," which receives its Washington premiere at the Woolly Mammoth March 27. Howe also wrote "Painting Churches" and "Coastal Disturbances." For further information call (202) 357-3030.

KEEPING THE FOOTLIGHTS ON

Financial support and volunteer time keep the Footlights on. Make checks out to Laurie Cullen, 2727 Duke St., #209, Alexandria, VA 22314. If you can help in other ways, especially with membership, contact David Sobelsohn at 202-484-8303 & [email protected]. If you don't mind receiving the newsletter only via the Internet, & not getting the snail-mail version, it will save us some money; contact either Laurie (703-461-8752) or David.