Westport Country Playhouse Hosts Wine With Friends 6/4

"Wine with Friends," a special event to celebrate Westport Country Playhouse's 80th anniversary season, will feature a pre-show party at Gilbertie's Herb Gardens, 7 Sylvan Lane, Westport, followed by a performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Dinner with Friends" at Westport Country Playhouse on Friday, June 4.

"As chair of the 80th anniversary celebration I am so thrilled we are able to be partnering with Gilbertie's Herb Gardens and Harry's Wine and Liquor Market," said Michele Flaster, who is a member of the Playhouse board of trustees. "Wine in the gardens of Gilbertie's and a wonderful play at Westport Country Playhouse is a great pairing for an evening out."

Beginning at 6 p.m., guests will sample wines from Harry's Wine and Liquor Market, which will donate 10% of any wine orders taken that evening to the Playhouse. Food tastings are from A Dash of Salt, Fairfield Cheese Company, Garelick & Herbs and Collyer Catering.

In addition, guests may purchase from Gilbertie's retail center, where 10% of the evening's proceeds will be contributed to the Playhouse. Gilbertie's features flowering plants and more than 400 varieties of herbs as well as their own line of home fragrances including potpourris, oils, candles and sachets.

Following the pre-show party, guests will go to the Playhouse where the curtain will rise at 8 p.m. on "Dinner with Friends," a comic drama written by 2010 Tony Award nominee Donald Margulies, and directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director.

"Dinner with Friends" is about Gabe & Karen and Tom & Beth, two couples who have been close friends for years, and who participate in all the familiar and comfortable rituals of shared vacations, good conversation and great food. When Tom abruptly walks out on Beth, it threatens more than just their marriage alone. This vibrant and edgy contemporary play explores the difficulties of one couple surviving the other pair's divorce.

In addition to the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "Dinner with Friends" received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, the Dramatists Guild/Hull-Warriner Award, the American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Tickets are $65 for party and performance. Tasting only tickets (6 to 8:30 p.m.) are $25. For tickets, 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.

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 theatre 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 with its original charm and character preserved. 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 2010 season: "She Loves Me," a romantic musical comedy, with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, directed by Mark Lamos, April 20 - May 15; "Dinner with Friends," a comic drama by Donald Margulies, directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, June 1 through 19; "Happy Days" by Samuel Beckett, a play of luminous beauty and rare power, directed by Mark Lamos, July 6 through July 24; "I Do! I Do!," an endearing musical, with book and lyrics are by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, directed by Susan H. Schulman, August 10 through August 28; and "The Diary of Anne Frank," a timeless and powerful classic, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted by Wendy Kesselman, directed by Gerald Freedman, September 28 through October 16.

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.