Hedgerow to Stage World Premiere of POST HASTE, 6/10-28

Take a cross-country road trip in a vintage roadster with famed etiquette authority Emily Post, portrayed by Penelope Reed, as Hedgerow stages the world premiere of Post Haste by Frank E. Reilly from June 10 to 28.

In the spring of 1915, Post, recently divorced from her philandering husband husband, embarked on a drive from New York City to San Francisco with her son, Edwin (played by Brock D. Vickers), behind the wheel. Naysayers tried to tell her that it couldn't be done, but the duo defied the odds, even as they dealt with the primitive highways, bad weather, mechanical problems and their own relationship issues. She chronicled the journey in a three-part series in Collier's Magazine, which had financed the endeavor so she could write about both the expedition two major expositions in California.

Playwright Reilly, who's also an actor, director and former theatre manager, is delighted to see his play come to life at Hedgerow. "I just loved the story of Emily Post's adventure and felt driven to do something with it," he explained. "It's been in the incubator stage for years with multiple rewrites. I also sent it to a number of theatre companies, but none of them had an actress who was right for the role." That changed when his friend, Walter Fitzgerald, who lives in Newtown Square, read it and recommended Hedgerow and Penelope Reed. "I sent it to her and she liked it," Reilly continued, "and I thought she was perfect for the part. Emily was tall with auburn hair, and so is Penn. It's as if the play was waiting for Penn and she was waiting for it, and Emily Post was waiting for both of us."

The play had its first public reading in Los Angeles, with Barbara Rush as Emily, and a second staged reading at the Directors Guild in New York by professional actress Margaret Daly. "Kate Mulgrew read it, too, and considered doing it," Reilly recalled, "but wanted to change the focus on Post as an independent woman, and I couldn't see that. Emily was strong-willed and totally independent at a time when that was frowned upon in society. She actually went to publisher Condé Nast himself to suggest the trip with her son, and he approved it, giving her an expense account. She also persuaded Harvard to allow her son to take a year off to accompany her, and they agreed."

As part of his research into the story, Reilly obtained original copies of the Collier's articles, all yellowed with age, from the library in Bangor, Maine. "I also read Edwin Post's remembrance of his mother, Loving Emily," he said, "to get a personal feeling of her as he saw her, so I could create a personality."

As the drama unfolds, Emily and Edwin make numerous stops on their way across the U.S., in both major cities and small towns, and they express their joys and frustrations in the travel and the people they encounter along the way, giving a real portrait of America in the pre-Word War I days, and also a glimpse into their lives and understanding of each other.

Post Haste is part of Hedgerow's Masters Performance Series. Tickets for adults and seniors are $25, for those 30 and under, $20, and $15 for students with valid ID. For more information about performance times or to reserve seats, call 610-565-4211 or visit www.HedgerowTheatre.org. Hedgerow Theatre is located at 64 Rose Valley Road in Rose Valley (near Media).