Keen Company's Tea and Sympathy Begins March 6

Keen Company has announced the final production of their 2006/07 season - the first major NYC revival of the 1953 Broadway play Tea And Sympathy, written by Robert Anderson and directed by Jonathan Silverstein. Tea And Sympathy will begin previews on Tuesday, March 6 for a limited engagement through Saturday, April 14. Opening night is Thursday, March 15 at 7 PM.

"A bittersweet play about adolescence, masculinity and conformity, this Broadway sensation from 1953 concerns a lonely and misunderstood 17-year-old boy in a New England boarding school. Presumed to be gay by both his peers and teachers, Tom is mercilessly ridiculed by both cruel classmates and callous instructors. As his world turns against him, his only kindness comes from the wife of his chief accuser," press notes state. 
 
Silverstein, who directed Keen Company's critically acclaimed production of The Hasty Heart, returns to Keen Company to lead a cast that includes Heidi Armbruster (Sea of Tranquility at Atlantic Theater Company, Keen Co.'s Good Morning, Bill) and Dan McCabe (Pen at Playwright's Horizons). 
 
Tea And Sympathy was a Broadway hit, running for 712 performances. It starred Deborah Kerr as Laura and John Kerr as Tom, and was  directed by Elia Kazan. MGM secured the rights for the film version and Mr. Anderson adapted it into a feature film that was directed by  Vincente Minnelli. Several changes were made to the film script so that it would be approved for release by the office of the Hollywood  Production Code of 1930.
 
"Tea And Sympathy was considered an important cultural milestone as a representation of homophobia, and over the years was included in several anthologies as a seminal gay play. At the time, playwright Robert Anderson wrote Tea And Sympathy as a veiled attack against McCarthyism, during a period in where fear and exclusion raged in popular culture."

The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM, with an additional matinee on Saturday, April 14 at 2 PM. Performances are at Keen Company's new Off Broadway home, the Clurman Theater (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues). Tickets are $40 and are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com. Please note, Keen Company is now performing on an Off Broadway transition LOA contract.