Arden Theatre Company Presents GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Now thru 12/14

Arden Theatre Company continues its 27th season of great stories with Great Expectations, based on the book by Charles Dickens and adapted by Gale Childs Daly. Great Expectations runs in the Arcadia from today, October 23 through December 14, 2014. Associate Artistic Director Matthew Decker directs.

Dickens's classic coming-of-age novel comes to life as a cast of six quick-change their way through nearly 40 colorful characters. Pip's encounters with the escaped convict Magwitch, the bewitching Estella, and the eccentric Miss Havisham weave a riveting tale about class, ambition and love.

Minneapolis based Gale Childs Daly's adaptation of the mighty Great Expectations is what interested the show's Director, Matthew Decker.

"Childs takes this behemoth novel and shapes the play in a really simple yet theatrical way while maintaining the quirks and color of Dickens's characters," says Decker.

The herculean challenge for director, actor and set designer is that an actor might shift body language or put on a pair of glasses and suddenly be someone else. One simple set serves 30 locations with the addition of a prop or a piece of furniture.

"This is my favorite type of theatre-making." Decker adds, "There is an energy that emerges between audience and actor when all of the play's moving parts are exposed. The result will be a reimagining of Great Expectations that invites the audience to look at a classic story in a brand new light ."

Mathew Decker is the Associate Artistic Director at the Arden and Co-Founder and Resident Director of Theatre Horizon in Norristown, PA. At the Arden, Matthew has directed Michael Hollinger's Incorruptible and Greg Banks' adaptations of Pinocchio and Robin Hood. Select Theatre Horizon productions include Circle Mirror Transformation (Barrymore Nomination - Outstanding Direction of a Play, Outstanding Overall Production of a Play), Spring Awakening, Kimberly Akimbo, Neil LaBute's Fat Pig and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he received the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical. Matthew is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company.

Josh Carpenter, last seen in the Arden's recent production of Incorruptible, plays Pip. Longtime Arden actors Doug Hara and Sally Mercer are part of the ensemble, with Mercer tackling the role of Miss Havisham. New to the Arden are Kate Czajkowski (Estella and others), Brian McCann and Lindsey Smiling.

Previews of Great Expectations begin on Thursday, October 23, 2014 and continue through October 28, 2014. The show opens on Wednesday, October 29 at 7pm and runs through Sunday, December 14, 2014. Opening Night Sponsors are Harmelin Media, Hatboro Beverages and JPM Catering.

Single ticket prices are $36-$50, with discounts available for groups of 15 or more, seniors, students, military, and educators. Mainstage Subscriptions are on sale for $84-$160. Call the Arden Box Office at 215.922.1122, order online at www.ardentheatre.org, or visit the box office at 40 N. 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia.

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