Alumnae Theatre Company Presents THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING, 1/24-2/8

The Alumnae Theatre Company is proud to present our second mainstage show of the 2013-2014 season: The Lady's Not For Burning, by Christopher Fry. This is particular production is part of Alumnae's Centennial retrospective leading up to our 100th Anniversary in 2018. The current production is helmed by Jane Carnwath.

Christopher Fry's poetic flight of comic fancy about a witch-hunt and a world-weary veteran was an instant hit in 1949 London, in a country still reeling from the harsh realities of war. Jennet, an eccentRic Young woman accused of witchcraft and Thomas, the soldier in search of oblivion, confront each other and a world that seeks to destroy her, and their lives.

Can a play, set in 1400 "either more or less or exactly", have anything to say to an audience in 2014? Absolutely. For all its comic quirkiness and poetic pyrotechnics, this wonderful play throws a torchlight beam into some of the dark corners that still haunt us: mob paranoia and violence, fear of "the other", religious hypocrisy, the wielding of tradition and bureaucracy as weapons of defense or aggression. They resonate sharply today.

It's been an ambition of Jane's to direct THE LADY. To bring to life a world that dances between the poetic and the everyday, a world that is dangerous, flawed like the richly contradictory folk who inhabit it, yet ultimately redeemed by its beauty and complexity.

THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING stars Chris Coculuzzi as Thomas; Andrea Brown* in the role of Jennet; Chris Whidden as Richard; Elsbeth McCall will be playing the part of Alizon, Ryan Armstrong in the part of Nicholas, Paul Cotton will play Humphrey, the role of Margaret will be performed by Carol McLennan, Christopher Kelk* takes on the part of Tyson, Rob Candy will be Tappercoom and Peter Higginson and Ian Orr will play the Chaplain and Skipps respectively. Director Jane Carnwath* is at the helm of this production with stage management by Margot Devlin. The set and light design is by Ed Rosing. Sound design for The Lady's Not For Burning is

by Angus Barlow. Costuming for the show is by Margaret Spence. The show is produced by Ellen Green and Barbara Larose.

Photo Credit: Dahlia Katz