George Bernard Shaw Presents THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA, Previews 9/4

Main Street Theater opens its 35th season with George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma. With previews September 4, 5 and 8, Dilemma... opens September 9 and runs through October 3 at Main Street Theater - Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd. (There is a performance on September 10 - and it's $5 Friday!) Performances are on Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets range from $26 - $40 (Previews are $10), depending on date and section, and are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 2540 Times Blvd., via phone at 713.524.6706, or online at MainStreetTheater.com.

About The Doctor's Dilemma
A doctor who has developed a cure for tuberculosis can take only one more patient. He must decide between a kindly, poor, medical colleague and a charming young artist who is a genius but a scoundrel with a young and vivacious wife (with whom the doctor is somewhat in love).
Throughout history and certainly in the present day, there are medical treatments so scarce or costly that some people can have them while others cannot. Who is to decide, and on what grounds is the decision to be made? 100 years ago, Shaw saw the potential for "death panels" and examined the dilemma with his customary wit and charm.
Inspired by a London surgeon who made a fortune convincing people to let him remove their uvula, this play premiered in 1906 at The Royal Court Theatre in London with Harley Granville-Barker as the artist.

About Playwright George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw wrote over 60 plays in addition to music and literary criticism, journalistic works, novels and short stories. He is the only person ever to have won the Nobel Prize (1925) and an Academy Award (1938). His list of great works is lengthy and would certainly include Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Major Barbara, Candida, Arms and the Man, Heartbreak House, You Never Can Tell, among others.

Discussion Series
Main Street is pleased to offer a Post-Show Discussion Series in connection with the production. Following the performance on Sunday, September 12, William Monroe, Professor of English and Dean of the Honors College at the University of Houston will lead a discussion on some of the themes and issues of the play with the audience, the cast, and director Mark Adams. Following the Sunday, October 3 performance, Dr. Thomas R. Cole, the McGovern Chair in Medical Humanities & Director of the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston will be leading the discussion.

About the Production
Mark Adams returns to MST to direct The Doctor's Dilemma after directing last season's hit production of Master Class. Houston favorite Joel Sandel plays Sir Colenson Ridgeon, the doctor facing the decision of which patient to save. David Wald (A Number, Wondergirl) is Dr. Blenkinsop, and Kregg Alan Dailey (But Not Goodbye) is Louis Dubedat, the patients in need of aid. Beth Hopp plays Jennifer Dubedat, the loving wife pleading her artist husband's case to Ridgeon.
The rest of the cast includes Steve Garfinkel (Awake and Sing!), Sean Patrick Judge (The House of the Spirits), Lisa Williams, Jack Dunlop, and Alan Hall (Master Class).

The design team includes Meghan C. Hakes (set design), ReBecca Greene Udden (costume design), Eric L. Marsh (lighting design), Janel J. Badrina (sound design), and Richard Solis (properties design). Lauren Smith is the production stage manager.

Parent Play Date
Saturday, September 25, for an additional fee, parents may take their 6 - 11 year olds to MST - Chelsea Market while they attend that evening's performance of The Doctor's Dilemma. Call 713-524-6706 for more information.