Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Artistic Director | Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) today announced the cast for the next offering of their season of REVELATION READINGS, the OBIE Award-winning series: Kate Hamill's The Scarlet Letter, based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, directed by Sarna Lapine and featuring David Corenswet, Kate Hamill, Robert Sean Leonard, Andrus Nichols, Olivia Oguma and more to be announced.
This brand new adaptation of the classic novel sheds new light and laughter on the sin, shame, and utter insanity of a puritanical society -- not far from our own mad, modern world. This one-night-only event will take place on Monday February 10th at 7:30pm at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets). "Hawthorne and Hamill are a thrilling combination, right up Red Bull's alley of new plays in conversation with classics. I'm very excited to welcome Kate Hamill's voice to our stage, and her vibrant new version of Hawthorne's study of repression couldn't be more timely. With this ferociously talented cast, we're in for a very special evening," said Mr. Berger. "The Scarlet Letter has always been recognized as a major work of American fiction. It is now one of the most frequently taught novels in U.S. high schools and universities; its plot and themes have been adapted and improvised upon by several of the country's leading writers, from Henry James to Suzan-Lori Parks; and the titular symbol at its heart has long been a catchphrase in the American vernacular. The first readers of The Scarlet Letter might have viewed its rebellious heroine as a feminist figure, with the novel appearing two years after the groundbreaking convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls. Its criticisms of patriarchal authority drew frequent attention from feminist scholars. Its ambiguous, opaque, ever-shifting symbology struck many readers as presciently postmodern. And its fascination remains undiminished in the twenty-first century, as Kate Hamill's adaptation will demonstrate," writes Columbia University's Austin Graham, who will lead a discussion following the performance.Videos