Kathleen Chalfant Joins Cast for Noel Coward Reading At Westport Country Playhouse

Award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant will join previously announced Kieran Campion, Mia Dillon and Edward Herrmann for a reading of Noël Coward's bittersweet comedy, "A Song at Twilight," part of Westport Country Playhouse's popular Script in Hand Series, on Monday, November 15, 7 p.m. Actors are subject to change. Tickets to the one-night-only event are $15.

Chalfant appeared in "Wit," for which she won Drama Desk, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics and Connecticut Critics Circle Awards. Her other New York stage credits include "Angels in America," which earned her Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and "Nine Armenians" for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. Film and television include "Duplicity," "Bob Roberts," "Kinsey," "The Laramie Project," "Lackawanna Blues" and "Rescue Me."

"A Song at Twilight" is about a cosmopolitan author in his declining years, caught between two women: his wife of convenience of 20 years and one of his former loves. When his former flame produces a set of old love letters she's about to turn over to a biographer, he is dead set against it - for it would compromise his impeccable reputation. Then she produces still another set of love letters, even more damaging. Will this former flame succeed in blackmailing the aging author?

The reading will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor and the Script in Hand Series curator. The Script in Hand Series is sponsored by Michelle and Marc Flaster; supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation and the Newman's Own Foundation.

About The Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theater producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theaters. Now celebrating its 80th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, The Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, The Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

Westport Country Playhouse's five-play 2011 season: "Beyond Therapy," a wicked, and wickedly funny, look at the days and nights of the young and single, written by comic master Christopher Durang and directed by Tony Award winner John Rando, April 26 - May 14; "The Circle," the scintillating comedy of manners, written by W. Somerset Maugham and directed by Nicholas Martin, June 7 - June 25; "Lips Together, Teeth Apart," a perceptive comedy about people struggling against their limitations, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director, July 12 - July 30; "Suddenly Last Summer," the poetic, sensual and evocative drama, written by Tennessee Williams and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, August 23 - September 10; and "Twelfth Night, or What You Will," the beguiling comedy/romance, written by William Shakespeare and directed by Mark Lamos, October 11 - October 29.

For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse) and/or follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse).

 

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