The Mint Extends The Madras House through March 25

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-wining Mint Theater Company will extend its production of Harley Granville-Barker's 1909 The Madras House through March 25th in order to accommodate overwhelming demand.

The Mint recently received the 2007 Tony Randall Grant, presented annually by the Tony Randall Theatrical Fund, for their upcoming production of Leo Tolstoy's 1886 tragedy The Power Of Darkness. The Tony Randall Grant is a $100,000 award given annually to a Tri-State area non-profit Equity theatre company for the production of a classic play, an adaptation of a classic play or a work inspired by the classics. This year, the Randall Theatrical Fund received over 45 proposals from area companies.

The Madras House features Roberta Maxwell and George Morfogen as Amelia and Constantine Madras, along with Tony Award nominees Laurie Kennedy and Jonathan Hogan. Roberta Maxwell recently starred as Jack Twist's mother in Brokeback Mountain; George Morfogen created the role of Rebadow for six seasons of the HBO hit "OZ", he also starred in The Voysey Inheritance and The Lonely Way at the Mint; Laurie Kennedy received a Tony nomination for her role in Shaw's Man and Superman; Jonathan Hogan was nominated for the 1985 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for As Is.

Also featured are Mary Bacon, Ross Bickell, Lisa Bostnar, Thomas M. Hammond, Jonathan Hogan, Laurie Kennedy, Roberta Maxwell, Allison McLemore, Pamela McVeagh, Mark L. Montgomery, George Morfogen, Angela Reed, Scott Romstadt, and Kraig Swartz.

"Alexander Woollcott, writing for The New York Times in 1921, exclaimed, "The Madras House is a dramatization not of a human being, but of a human problem. The protagonist that wanders through its four abundant acts is not a person. It is a question. How are the brains of the world to be cleared and the work of the world to be done when that world is necessarily peopled with mutually exciting creatures and its energy so largely devoted to fomenting that excitability?" In other words, what in the world are we doing about the overpowering distraction of sex?," as press notes state.

"Harley Granville-Barker was one of the most influential figures in the history of the modern theater. "We are all in debt to Granville-Barker," wrote The Guardian just last spring, "His ideas were prophetic and extraordinary." He was an inspired director, a visionary producer and a brilliant playwright—and yet he is hardly known in this country. His impact is still felt keenly, here and in England. His Prefaces to Shakespeare revolutionized the approach to staging the plays—in fact some credit him with evolving the role of the modern director as unifier of the creative elements in drama and representative of the author."

The Madras House has set design by Charles Morgan, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by William Armstrong.

The show is presented on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street. Performances, which continue through March 25th, will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7 PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM.  Tickets are $55 are available by calling (212) 315-0231 or online at www.minttheater.org.

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