Broadway Drama 'Honour' Opens Gulfshore Playhouse Season

Opening the Gulfshore Playhouse season is "Honour," a Broadway drama, by Joanna Murray-Smith, which plays January 22-30, 2010, with previews on January 20 and 21.  

This masterful drama examines what happens when a comfortable, upper middle-class, middle-aged marriage suddenly stalls. When shared values and responsibilities no longer coalesce. When the opportunity arises for one life to be renewed but at the expense of another's happiness and security. And how does this impact the rest of the family? This provocative play challenges the notion of honor, our sense of decency and the belief that love will prevail.  

Joanna Murray-Smith is an Austrailian playwright, newspaper columnist, screenwriter and novelist.  She developed "Honour" as part of a playwriting program at Columbia University.  It had an original workshop reading starring Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston and Kyra Sedgwick. 

This compelling and uniquely written work premiered on Broadway in 1998.  That production starred popular film and stage actress, Laura Linney and Jane Alexander.  

The play has also been produced in two different incarnations in London's West End.  These productions in 2003 and 2006 starred Eileen Atkins and Diana Rigg respectively.

Broadway veteran Allen Fitzpatrick ("Les Miserables", "Sweet Smell of Success", "Damn Yankees", "Passion", "The Scarlet Pimpernel", "42^nd Street") will star as Gus.  Broadway, Off-Broadway and television actress Elizabeth Hess ("M Butterfly", "Beggars in the House of Plenty" and television's "Law and Order" and "Clarissa Explains it All") will portray Honor, the central character of this drama.  Jessica Rothert, who will appear as Sophie and Heidi-Marie Ferren, who portrays Claudia, will round out the cast. 

Gulfshore Playhouse is Naples' first and finest self producing-professional theatre company, currently producing exclusively at the Norris Center in downtown Naples.  Gulfshore Playhouse is passionately devoted to creating nationally noteworthy professional theatre - from the powerful and inspiring classics, to innovative new works.  It is unwaveringly committed to bringing the best theatre professionals in our country to the stages and the classrooms of Southwest Florida.                                                                                    

Through its educational program, ART SMART, which is currently up and running in both Collier and Lee County, theatre-based workshops are brought into classrooms during the school day to teach curriculum content.  Correlating with the Sunshine State Standards, these workshops teach literacy and numeracy skills while fostering self-esteem, self-confidence and cooperative learning.  

Gulfshore Playhouse's  production of "Honour" will be presented exclusively at the Norris Center, 7558^th Avenue South in Downtown Naples, FL.  Single tickets are on sale now.  Tickets start at $30 and are available by calling (866) 811-4111 or on their website www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org. 

FALL IN LOVE TODAY!  ADOPT A PET FROM YOUR LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER