MAN OF THE MOMENT Reading Held At Chester Theatre Group 11/8

On Sunday, November 8th at 3pm, Chester Theatre Group in residence at Black River Playhouse in Chester, New Jersey, concludes it's 2009 "Unheard Ayckbourn" reading series with MAN OF THE MOMENT, Alan Ayckbourn's 1988 comedy about the price of fame in a media driven society. The reading is presented by the 4A's (Alan Ayckbourn Aficionados of America) as part of their year-long celebration of Ayckbourn's 50th year of playwriting. Previous readings in the series included SUGAR DADDIES, WILDEST DREAMS and GAMEPLAN as well as a "50/50: Ayckbourn & CTG" - a special retrospective of the dozen Ayckbourn plays presented by the Chester Theatre Group, which also marked its 50th anniversary this season.

MAN OF THE MOMENT premiered in Scarborough, England, in 1988 and opened two years later at London's Globe Theatre starring Michael Gambon and Peter Bowles. The play was nominated for the Olivier Award and won the prestigious Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award. It was twice adapted for radio. A recent revival was directed by Ayckbourn in Northampton, England, as part of Ayckbourn's 70th birthday celebrations. There have been only a handful of US productions of the play, most of them in the mid 1990's.

The story takes us to a villa in sunny Spain, where celebrity criminal Vic Parks is brought together for a TV exposé with timid Douglas Beechey, the man who foiled Vic's bank robbery 18 years before. Ayckbourn's skillful writing demonstrates just how the media can manipulate the truth, and alter public opinion. MAN OF THE MOMENT was the prolific author's 35th play. Since then, he has penned 38 more major plays, including his 73rd and most recent work MY WONDERFUL DAY, which transfers directly to an Off-Broadway run on November 11th from it's recently hailed Scarborough premiere.

The 4A's staged reading features Eric Rolland as Vic Parks, Patrick Carpenter as Douglas Beechey, Valerie Stack Dodge as TV host Jill Rillington, Roxanna Wagner as Vic's long-suffering wife Trudy, Gus Ibranyi as Vic's agent Kenny, Elizabeth Urcinoli as Sharon the nanny, Bob Sackstein as Ruy the gardener, and Carla Kendall as Marta the housekeeper. Suebeth Baumgartner will provide narration. The production is under the direction of 4A's founder Michael T. Mooney. Mooney staged the American premieres of four of Sir Alan's plays at Black River Playhouse.

Black River Playhouse is located on the corner of Grove and Maple streets in historic Chester, New Jersey. Tickets are $5.00 and can be reserved by calling (908) 879-7304. For more information, please visit www.chestertheatregroup.org or join the 4A's on Facebook

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