Westport Country Playhouse Welcomes Author Joan Didion Today, 6/17

Joan Didion will be a guest at a Westport Country Playhouse Sunday Symposium today, June 17, following the 3 p.m. matinee performance of Ms. Didion's play, "The Year of Magical Thinking," based on her 2005 National Book Award-winning memoir. She will converse on The Playhouse stage with David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director. Following the symposium, Ms. Didion will sign copies of her books which will be available for purchase.

Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director, said of Ms. Didion, "I have been a passionate reader of her work for many years, and her book and the play she made of it are extraordinarily meaningful to me. Ms. Didion's appearance at our Symposium is indeed an 'event' for our audiences and our community---and it will add immeasurably to the experience of seeing her play."

Born in California and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Didion has spent her adult life in New York and Los Angeles. "The Year of Magical Thinking" is one of 13 books by Joan Didion. Her other books include "Play It As It Lays," "Democracy," "Slouching Towards Bethlehem," "The White Album," "Salvador," "Miami," "Political Fictions," and the recently published "Blue Nights." With her husband, John Gregory Dunne, she wrote the screenplays for such pictures as "The Panic in Needle Park" with Al Pacino, "True Confessions" with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, "A Star Is Born" with Barbra Streisand, and "Up Close & Personal" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded her its 2005 Gold Medal in nonfiction. She also received the 1996 Edward MacDowell Medal, the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award, and the 2002 George Polk Book Award. She contributes to various periodicals, most frequently The New York Review of Books.

"The Year of Magical Thinking," featuring noted actress Maureen Anderman as Didion, is about the author's actual experience rebuilding her life during the year after her spouse's death and her capacity to emerge strengthened from even the most shattering of life's trials. Nicholas Martin directs. "The Year of Magical Thinking" Production Sponsor is the Judy Point Charitable Trust.

The Playhouse Sunday Symposium program, free and open to the public, offers guest speakers' in-depth insights and observations about the production, followed by an interactive dialogue. It is open to all, including those who attend a performance of "The Year of Magical Thinking" at another time.

Upcoming Sunday Symposia will include a conversation with Virginia Scott, Professor Emerita, Dramaturgy, at the University of Massachusetts and author of "Molière: A Theatrical Life," on Sunday, July 22, following a performance of Molière's "Tartuffe"; a discussion with Tony Award-nominated playwright Chad Beguelin, author of the world-premiere comedy "Harbor" on Sunday, August 29; and a chance to hear what it's like to approach the American classic, "A Raisin in the Sun," as both an actor and director from Phylicia Rashad on Sunday, October 10. Ms. Rashad won a 2004 Tony Award for Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for the Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," and is director of The Playhouse's "A Raisin in the Sun," running October 9 – November 3.

The Sunday Symposium is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

"The Year of Magical Thinking" runs June 12 – 30. Subscriptions are available (seasonal 4-Play, Pick 3 Plans and FlexTix) offering up to 40% off single tickets. Single ticket prices, starting at $30, are subject to change based on availability. Buy early for the best prices.

For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).

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