Wingert And Ooms To Star In 'HAPPY DAYS' Opening 2/18

Veteran Guthrie actors Sally Wingert and Richard Ooms team with director Rob Melrose for Samuel Beckett's masterful two-character drama Happy Days. The production, which serves as the Dowling Studio debut for both actors, begins previews February 14, opens February 18 and plays through March 8, 2009. Single tickets are priced from $18 to $30, with opening night priced at $34. Tickets are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.)

This intense and strictly concentrated two-character drama features an eternally optimistic Winnie inexplicably buried waist-deep in a mound of earth, clinging to her life of arbitrary routines and rituals. Her husband, Willie, appears from time to time and replies only occasionally to her cheerful chatter, a source of comfort as she remains ever hopeful that "this is going to be a happy day." With its vivid sense of the bizarre and a blend of humor and compassion, Happy Days represents one of the Nobel Prize-winning writer's finest works.

The play is minimalist, concentrated to the bare elements needed to make Winnie's resilience apparent in the stream of her thoughts and emotions, allowing the Irish playwright, poet and novelist an opportunity to offer a penetrating and uncompromising exploration of the human condition. As is the case with all of Beckett's work for the stage, Happy Days is an utterly spare and precise play, with every detail carrying the exact weight and degree of importance determined by the author.

Co-founder and artistic director of San Francisco's The Cutting Ball Theater, Melrose previously directed Pen (2007) in the Dowling Studio, and served as assistant director for the Guthrie's 2003 production of Othello. He leads an artistic team that includes Michael Locher (Set Designer), Christine Richardson (Costume Designer), Frank Butler (Lighting Designer), Michael Lupu (Dramaturgy), Martha Kulig (Stage Manager) and Meaghan Rosenberger (Assistant Stage Manager).

About the Guthrie
The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Guthrie is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. Led by Director Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie opened a new three-theater home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in June 2006.

The Guthrie is located at 818 South 2nd Street (at Chicago Avenue), in downtown Minneapolis. To purchase tickets or season subscriptions call the Guthrie Box Office between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily at 612.377.2224 or toll-free 877.44.STAGE. For more information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

Happy Days
BY Samuel Beckett
DIRECTED BY ROB MELROSE

First preview: February 14, 2009 7:30 p.m.

Opening Night: February 18, 2009 7:30 p.m.

Closing: March 8, 2009 1 p.m.

Location: Guthrie Theater
818 South 2nd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415

TICKETS: Single tickets priced at $18 - $30, opening night $34
Guthrie Box Office: 612.377.2224 or 877.44.STAGE Group Sales: 612.225.6244 or 877.225.6211 Box Office hours: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily
Tickets may also be purchased online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Performance Schedule: Tuesday through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.
Matinees on selected Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m.
ASL Performances
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Audio Described Performances
Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Post-Play Discussions
Sunday, February 22 (1 p.m. show)
Wednesday, March 4 (7:30 p.m. show)

Programming in the Dowling Studio is sponsored by Digital River, Inc. with additional support from Travelers.

Photo: Mark Rylance and Richard Ooms

 

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