Silver Springs Stage Presents HAPGOOD, 2/24-3/17

Silver Spring Stage presents Tom Stoppard's Hapgood, directed by Doug Krehbel and produced by Natalie McManus, a funny and brain teasing espionage thriller set in the Cold War of secret research could be stolen. Hapgood will perform weekends February 24 to March 17.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors and students. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sundays on March 4 and March 11 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

"Stoppardian" has become a term describing works using wit and comedy while addressing philosophical concepts. Hapgood is another of Tom Stoppard's work to mix intrigue and humor with the scientific ideas of light and duality. He wrote about the play: "If there's a central idea in the play, it is the proposition that in each of the characters is the working majority of a dual personality, part of which is always there in a submerged state." Stoppard himself has had that duality in his life. Born as Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, he escaped as a refugee. Through another escape in Singapore, he eventually settled in Britain, where he became quite English. He has had two major periods of his plays: the first that focused more on word play and avoided meaning to his second where he integrated heart and mind in his works. He's even been married twice and has two sons. Hapgood has had two major productions - it's London premiere in 1988 and a revival in 1994. 

The director Doug Krehbel says about Hapgood: "What does the movement of an electron have to do with love, and secrets, and family, and politics? Depending on what mood you're in, everything and nothing. We ourselves are electrons in too many ways. We try and try, but somehow knowing both the position and velocity of our lives gets more and more difficult. But we play nonetheless. And what does it all mean, really? Anything you wish. The experimenter makes the choice - and what you choose to look for, is what you'll find."

It's London in the late 1980's and the Cold War is still raging. Hapgood (Carol Spring), nicknamed Mother, is the head of a top-level British intelligence agency. She is an eccentric, brilliant - plays chess without a board - and run a tight office. She's also a romantic, having had a son by Kerner (David Dubov), the Russian spy she turned into a double agent. Hapgood and her associates, suspecting a leak in their network, have staked out the municipal pool to catch the person, whom they know to be one of their own, as he somehow switches the briefcase being passed to a Russian agent. Yet, as the intricate spy dance with briefcases and disguised characters is presented before them, they somehow missed the switch they were waiting for. Ridley (Ric Andersen), Hapgood's assistant, suspects that the Russian agent making the pickup was, in fact, identical twins. Kerner, who's now suspected of being a triple agent, says that of course it was twins. He explains himself by describing the dual nature of light, which is sometimes that of a wave pattern and at other times that of particles. He also brings up the nature of electrons, which, he says, can be in two different places at the same time. Hapgood is a mystery and comedy in one not to be missed!

The cast also features Aly Ettman (Maggs), Marcus Gillis (Wates), Luba Hansen (The Russian), Kate Holden (Jane), Dylan Knewstub (Merryweather) and Nick Sampson (Blair). The production team includes Rose Mohan (Stage Manager), Mike Ricci (Set Design), Nick Sampson (Sound Design), and Don Slater (Light Design).

Silver Spring Stage continues its 2011-2012 season with the Enchanted April (Apr. 13-May 5), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (May 18-June 9), and  Stop Kiss (June 29-July 21). Silver Spring Stage has provided quality, affordable theatre for over 40 years. All programs at Silver Spring Stage are made possible in part by grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Maryland State Arts Council.