NTC Stages Peter Shaffer Comedy LETTICE AND LOVAGE 2/3-19

Novato Theater Company opens 2017 with Sir Peter Shaffer's award-winning comedy, Lettice and Lovage. The author of Equus and Amadeus plunges into droll comedy about two women who could not be more opposite. The play is directed by Renée Mandel-Sher and produced by Mark Clark. It runs February 3-19 at the NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Drive in Novato.

Lettice and Lovage centers on a flamboyant tour guide, Lettice Duffet, an expert on Elizabethan cuisine and medieval weaponry. Lettice embellishes the history of the English country house in which she conducts tours because she finds the actual story "extremely dull." She finds herself face-to-face with the fact-conscious official at the house, Lotte Schoen, who fires her. But the relationship does not end there. Lotte shows up unexpectedly at Lettice's apartment 10 weeks later and then the fun begins. A true study of opposites.

Cast and Home Cities
Lettice - Sandi Rubay (San Rafael)
Lotte - Marsha van Broek (Pleasant Hill)
Miss Framer/Tourist - Marilyn Hughes
Surley Man - John Griffin (Novato)
Bardolph - Stephen Dietz ( Petaluma)
Production Team
Director - Renée Mandel-Sher
Producer - Mark Clark
Stage Manager - Lindsay John
Lighting Designer - Frank Sarubbi
Sound Designer - Simon Eves
Costume Designer - Amanda Cairo
Assistant Stage Manager - Isabelle Ponte
Property Supervisor - Christina Jaqua
Graphic Designer - Mark Shephard

Director Renée Mandel-Sher
Florida native Renée Mandel-Sher studied theater at the University of Florida and at Mountview Theatre School in London. While living in London, Ms. Mandel-Sher was entranced by a production of Lettice & Lovage starring Maggie Smith and felt a personal affinity towards the characters. She uses her life experiences into her direction of these delicious characters.
Ms. Mandel-Sher's directorial debut was in 1995, when she used theatre as a vehicle to build the self-esteem of troubled, incarcerated youths, who performed in "Eight Men Out" at LA's Juvenile Hall. Since moving to Novato in 2003, Ms. Mandel-Sher has been an active member in the Novato Theater Company, stage managing High Society, acting in Picnic and Little Me, and directing The Fantasticks and Cactus Flower.

The Play and the Playwright
Sir Peter Shaffer's playwriting career spanned four decades, with his best known early work inluding The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964) and Black Comedy (1965) Equus (1973) won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. Shaffer followed this success with Amadeus (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics' Award for the London production. When the show moved to Broadway it won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play and, like Equus, ran for more than 1,000 performances.

After the success of Amadeus, Shaffer wrote the play Lettice and Lovage specifically for Dame Maggie Smith in 1986, for which he was nominated for another Tony Award and Dame Maggie Smith eventually won the Tony Award for best actress after three nominations in 1990. Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film, including Five Finger Exercise (1962), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Equus (1977), and Amadeus (1984), which won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture. Shaffer received two Academy Award nominations for adapting his plays Equus and Amadeus for the big screen. For writing the screenplay for Equus, he was nominated for the 1977 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. For writing the screenplay for Amadeus, Shaffer received both the 1984 Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the 1984 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Shaffer died in June, 2016.

CURTAIN TIMES AND TICKETS

Venue: NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Dr., Novato 94949
Preview: Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 pm
Opens: Friday, Feb. 3 at 8:00 pm
Runs: Fridays and Saturdays: 8:00 pm; Sundays: 2:00 pm, through Feb. 19
Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes, with two intermissions.
Tickets: $27 Adults, $21 NTC Members and Subscribers, $24 Seniors/Students, $12 Children 12 and under, $15 Preview.

Online ticketing at www.novatotheatercompany.org; call (415) 883-4498 for questions/information only. No credit cards accepted at the theater box office for walk ups, cash or checks only. Open Seating • Free Parking • ADA Compliant