2013 Monomoy Program Page 5

2013

THEATREBILL

Welcome to the 2013 Season
of the Monomoy Theatre,

t has been my practice in the past to use this letter to tell
you a little something about each of the plays we are
presenting during the summer. This season I thought it

would be nice to ask each of our distinguished directors to
give you an idea of how they see the play they will be
directing.

As the director of The King and I, it starts with me. Undoubtedly the most

influential writing team in the history of the American musical theatre was Richard
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The King and I marked their fifth collaboration
and has certainly become one of their greatest accomplishments in a cannon of
worldwide successes. The King and I was the only play they were ever commissioned
to write. It was for the veteran leading lady of Broadway and London's West End,
Gertrude Lawrence. Yul Brynner, who went on to make this his signature role in a
long career on stage and in films, played the supporting role of the king.

David Haugen, actor, director and a member of the faculty in the School of

Theater at Ohio University will direct our second production this summer. Many of
you will remember David's superb portrayal of Professor Moriarty in Sherlock
Holmes.

Agatha Christie has sold more than 2 billion books worldwide making her third

only to Shakespeare and the Bible, both of whose authorships are sometimes hotly
debated. Maybe literary historians will someday debate who `really' wrote all those
mysteries? Nonetheless, Ms. Christie continues to engage audiences. The stage
adaptations of her novels, And Then There Were None being one of the finest,
presents the opportunity to experience the thrill of the hunt and the terror of suspense
as a community. The popularity of her productions, whether they be professional or
amateur, attests to our desire to share in this ritual of... `whodunnit?'

Mary O'Brady, actress, director, choreographer, producer and Monomoy

Theatre alum,will direct The Odd Couple. Mary has used her personal experiences
with the great American playwright, Neil Simon as a means to give our actors an
extraordinary insight into his plays.

Written in 1965, Neil Simon's The Odd Couple is the timeless tale of two best

friends, coping with the financial and emotional struggles of divorce. When slovenly
Oscar and fastidious Felix try to set up housekeeping (or lack of it), their daily routine
and weekly poker game ignite both fireworks and some of the funniest lines ever
written. Inspired by Simon's brother, the humanity beneath the hilarity is what's made
this comic masterpiece an American classic that continues to make audiences laugh
all over the world.

I am so pleased to welcome Richard Mangan back to The Monomoy Theatre.

His extensive career in the London Theatre makes him an ideal director for the
plays of Noel Coward.

I have no intention of being `radical', but I hope that with a cast whose ages are

nearer the author's intentions than are usually seen, we may examine some aspects of
the play NOT usually seen. Coward said that Hay Fever had no plot and few witty
lines, but it remains one of his most popular plays. Monomoy audiences love his work,
and I hope we shall not let them down.

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