The Guthrie Theater Announces Christopher Hampton Celebration Events

The Guthrie Theater today announced additional details of its celebration of the multifaceted writer Christopher Hampton, which will inaugurate the theater's 50th season. In addition to the previously announced Tales from Hollywood on the Wurtele Thrust Stage and the world-premiere Appomattox on the McGuire Proscenium Stage, the celebration will also feature a production of Hampton's Embers in the Dowling Studio from October 9-27, 2012, directed by Joe Dowling.

Embers tells the story of Konrad, who as a young man ran away from his best friend Henrik and Henrik's wife Krisztina with no explanation. Forty-one years later, after Krisztina's death and at the start of World War II, Konrad returns and unexpected questions linger between the two one-time friends. Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Embers is based on a novel by Sándor Márai as translated by Carol Brown Janeway.

"The American premiere of Embers will be an ideal contrast to the other plays in the celebration," said Guthrie Director Joe Dowling. "While Appomattox and Tales from Hollywood deal with major public figures and events, Embers is a chamber piece that shows Christopher Hampton at his most psychological and literate. I look forward to directing this beautiful play in the Dowling Studio."

In synergy with the Civil War and Civil Rights Era themes explored in Appomattox, the Hampton Celebration will also include an In Conversation with former Georgia legislator and NAACP Chair JulIan Bond taking place on November 4, 2012, at 1 p.m. on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Bond, an accomplished politician, academic and writer, was a leader in the American Civil Rights movement and has been a life-long participant in the movements for economic justice, peace and an aggressive spokesman for the disenfranchised. Tickets for the In Conversation with JulIan Bond are $20, $15 for Guthrie subscribers and students.

In October, the Hampton Celebration will also feature two Extreme Hampton Weekends on October 12-15 and October 19-22, in which the resources of the Guthrie's stages and programming will intensify to a level of total immersion. Tales from Hollywood, Appomattox and Embers will be playing on all three Guthrie stages, with a variety of post-play discussions, the previously announced In Conversation with Hampton and Joe Dowling on October 15, a free screening of the Hampton-written-and-directed Carrington on October 22 and Saturday discussions led by Guthrie dramaturg Jo Holcomb and historian Stephen Osman on October 13 and 20, respectively. More information on Hampton Celebration events is available at guthrietheater.org/hampton, which will be updated regularly.