Mint Theater to Present Tolstoy's The Power of Darkness

Mint Theater Company will present Leo Tolstoy's dramatic landmark, The Power Of Darkness beginning September 6th.  Mint was awarded $100,000 from The Tony Randall Theatrical Fund in a competitive process to support this production, beating out forty-five other professional theaters in the tri-state area. This limited engagement will run through October 28th.

"This play was written in 1886 but was banned in Russia where it was not produced until 1895—after Tolstoy satisfied the censor and agreed to provide an alternative for the play's most powerful and horrific scene. The play is virtually unknown in this country; its first New York production was in Yiddish (in 1904). It was another 16 years before the fledgling Theater Guild finally presented the play in English.  The last time it was seen in New York was in 1959 when Brooks Atkinson called the play 'unforgettable…a devastating chronicle of corruption and penitence on a peasant farm in the 1880's,'" as described in press materials.

"Tolstoy's tragedy is a heartrending and cautionary tale about the consequences of pursuing personal gain while disregarding morality and the dictates of one's own conscience.  Time has not diminished the power of this masterful drama which is likely to challenge the nerves of even the most hardened of theatergoers.

"Set amidst the squalor, superstition and ignorance of a peasant village in Russia, the play's subtitle: 'If the claw is caught, the bird is lost' evocatively describes the downward spiral of the play's young protagonist whose philandering ensnares him in a web of murder, adultery and infanticide leading ultimately to despair and a cry for redemption.  

Mint Theater continues its three-year initiative celebrating the important work of the Theater Guild with this production.  From its inception in 1918 to the 1960's, the Guild provided an American home for ground-breaking writers, directors, actors and designers as well as for audiences hungry for thoughtful, provocative and nourishing drama."

Martin Platt will direct a cast that includes Mark Alhadeff, Lisa Altomare, Jennifer Bissell, Steve Brady, Randy Danson, Scott Freeman, Anne Letscher, Peter Levine, Angela Reed, Jeff Steitzer, and Alok Tewari.  The Power Of Darkness will have set design by Bill Clarke, costume design by Holly Poe Durbin, lighting design by Jeff Nellis, and music by Ellen Mandel.

In 2001, the Mint was awarded an Obie grant for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition," and in 2002 a special Drama Desk Award for "unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit."

The Power Of Darkness will take place on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street, beginning September 6th.  For more information, visit www.minttheater.org  or call 212/315-0231.

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