From the Footlights - November, 1997

Footlights Visits "Our Town"

On Monday, November 17, our children & family series continues with one of the most beloved plays in American theater history, Thornton
Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize winner "Our Town." The play chronicles the daily lives of the residents of a small New England town in the
years before World War I. Critic John Mason Brown described "Our Town" as "one of the sagest, warmest, & most deeply human scripts to
have come out of our theater." Brooks Atkinson called it "a beautifully evocative play" with "a profound, strange, unworldly
significance," while Lillian Gish considered it simply the "greatest play of our century." We will meet in November at Luna Books, 1633
P St., NW (3d floor of Cafe Luna, just E of Dupont Circle). Dinner begins at 6:30 & our discussion at 7:45. Make reservations by
e-mail to [email protected] or by calling 202-484-8303. Our discussion will feature an introduction by Footlights' own Mary-Margaret
McGrail. You can find "Our Town" both individually & in collection at discount bookstore Super Crown (Dupont Circle & the White Flint
Shopping Center) & for a special Footlights discount at Olsson's, 1307 19th St., NW, & Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW.
Backstage Books, 2101 P St., NW has the acting edition for around $6.

"Our Town" Site of First Footlights Potluck Playreading

On Saturday, December 6, at 6:30, Footlights will hold our first-ever potluck & playreading party, at Mary-Margaret McGrail's, 57 South
French St., Alexandria, for a reading of "Our Town." To get to Mary-Margaret's from I-395, take Duke St. (exit 3) E 2 miles & turn
right onto South French St. From downtown Alexandria take Duke St. W 3 miles & turn left onto South French St. We will provide shuttle
service if you call Mary-Margaret's from the King St. metro station. Bring a dish to share & a part to read. Space is limited, so RSVP
by calling Mary- Margaret now (703-751-8126).

Madness Follows "Wedding"

On Tuesday, December 16, our series on children continues with Carson McCullers's prize-winning play "The Member of the Wedding" (1950),
McCullers's dramatization of her novel about an awkward, imaginative girl on the brink of adolescence. Set in a small southern town in
1945, "Wedding" touches on racism, changing personal relationships, & deep feelings of loss. Did you know you can take the Paris metro
to the insane asylum that once housed the Marquis de Sade? Learn this & other important coping strategies when Footlights succumbs to
madness this February. Examine our December newsletter for even clearer indications of insanity.

Wilder & Wilder

Five years after he won for "Our Town," Thornton Wilder again won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Skin of Our Teeth" (1943), a
nonnaturalistic allegory of human history including the ice age & a seven-year war. The Chevy Chase Players will present "The Skin of
Our Teeth" at 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays November 7-22 at the Chevy Chase Community Center, 5601 Connecticut Ave., NW. Tickets are $8
($5 for students & seniors). For further information, call 202-387-1191 or send e-mail to [email protected].

Rogers Stars in Greenbelt

"Bullshot Crummond," a hilarious spoof of English 1930s spy serials, runs at the Greenbelt Arts Center at 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays
October 31-November 22 & at 2 p.m. Sundays November 9 & 16. Footlights' own Ian Rogers stars in the title role. Tickets are $8 ($6 for
students & seniors). The Arts Center is at 123 Center Way, Greenbelt, & on the web at www.greenbelt.com/artscenter/. For reservations
or further information call 301-441-8770 & press 4.

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