Westport Country Playhouse Receives Connecticut Humanities Grant

A grant of $20,000 has been awarded to Westport Country Playhouse by Connecticut Humanities to support a series of community events surrounding The Playhouse's current production of Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar's topical thriller, "The Invisible Hand." The programs are free-of-charge, open to the public, and continue through August 8.

"Money, Power, and Belief: Reflections on 'The Invisible Hand'" includes speakers, discussions, a film screening, and a month-long lobby exhibit. The enrichment programs are designed to deepen the audience's experience of the play.

A complete calendar of community engagement events with details, dates, times, and locations, is available on-line at westportplayhouse.org, or a special brochure may be requested by calling The Playhouse box office at 203-227-4177.

"The Invisible Hand," directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, is about an American futures trader who is kidnapped and held hostage in Pakistan. His ransom is ten million dollars. Using his global market expertise, he turns his prison cell into a trading floor in an attempt to raise the ransom money and earn freedom. The title of the play is derived from a concept that 'the invisible hand' is a natural phenomenon that guides the free market by everyone's self-interest, attributed to economist Adam Smith.

"The Invisible Hand" performance schedule is July 19 - August 6, Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, provides opportunities to explore the history, literature and the vibrant culture that make the state, cities and towns attractive places to live and work. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

The mission of Westport Country Playhouse is to enrich, enlighten, and engage the community through the power of professionally produced theater worth talking about and the welcoming experience of The Playhouse campus. The Playhouse creates this relationship with the community and provides this experience in multiple ways by offering: Live theater experiences of the highest quality, under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos, from May to October; educational and community engagement events and opportunities to further explore issues presented by the work on stage; special performances and programs for students and teachers with extensive curriculum support material; Script in Hand playreadings throughout the year to deepen relationships with audiences and artists alike; the renowned Woodward Internship Program training program during the summer months for aspiring theater professionals; Family Festivities presentations from November through April to delight young and old alike and to promote reading through live theater; and the beautiful and historic Playhouse campus open for enjoyment and community events year-round. The value of the Westport Country Playhouse to all it touches is immeasurable.

Westport Country Playhouse's 2016 Season includes two Tony Award-winning plays staged in repertory, directed by Mark Lamos, from May 3 to 29: "Art" by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton; and "Red" by John Logan. Each of the plays is about art: making it, owning it, the anguish of creating it, and the ache of believing in it. The recent Off-Broadway comedy hit, "Buyer & Cellar" by Jonathan Tolins, and directed by Stephen Brackett, is about a young, out-of-work actor who winds up working for a well-known star named Barbra in the mall she built in her Malibu mansion, playing June 14 - July 3. The comedy won a Lucille Lortel Award. Another recent Off-Broadway piece, "The Invisible Hand," a riveting and relevant new thriller by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, author of Broadway's "Disgraced," will run July 19 - August 6, directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. When an American futures trader finds himself kidnapped and held hostage in Pakistan, he knows the only way to get home is to do what he does best: play the market like his life depends on it. Joe Orton's comedy, "What the Butler Saw," offering a little blackmail, and a lot of sexual innuendo, will play from August 23 - September 10, directed by John Tillinger, who helmed a recent, critically acclaimed production of the play in Los Angeles. Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot," a freshly inventive take on one of the foremost musicals in the American canon, will run October 4 - 30, directed by Mark Lamos. The classic love triangle of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot will be a reimagined version.

?Pictured: One of the community events in Westport Country Playhouse's "Money, Power, and Belief: Reflections on 'The Invisible Hand'" was a Sunday Symposium (July 24) on "The Hands at Play: Culture, Politics, and Grievance in 'The Invisible Hand'," with, from left, David Kennedy, moderator, and director of "The Invisible Hand"; Khadija Gurnah, founder of Project Ejaba, an organization that advocates for Muslim youth; and DR. Martin Nguyen, associate professor of Islamic Religious Traditions at Fairfield University. The series of events continues through August 8. Photo by Don Rebar.