TACT/The Actors Company Theatre (Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris and Jenn Thompson, Co-Artistic Directors), the critically-acclaimed company “dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit,” will present the American premiere of Noël Coward’s Semi-Monde in a one-night only benefit concert performance at the Scholastic Auditorium (557 Broadway, NYC).
Set in the lobby, restaurants, and bar of the Hôtel Ritz in Paris, Semi-Monde follows the lives and loves of a dizzying array of socialites and wannabes over a three year period from 1924 to 1926. It is remarkable among its contemporaries due to its prominent sexuality and homosexuality. This, however, is but the facade of Coward's exploration of the disconnected monotony of the lives of the elite. It is assumed he knew that it could not be produced in the environment of censorship that existed in the 1920’s. However, in private correspondence, Coward described it as "jagged with sophistication," and sought to have it produced in Germany. Because of the salacious nature of its contents, the play was never produced in its time and has never before been seen anywhere in the US! Until now.
The 7:00 p.m. performance will feature Co-Artistic Director Cynthia Harris, and TACT company members Mark Alhadeff, Nora Chester, Richard Ferrone, Todd Gearhart, Delphi Harrington, Jeffrey C. Hawkins, Jack Koenig, Ron McClary, MacKenzie Meehan, Margaret Nichols, John Plumpis, James Prendergast, Scott Schafer, Gregory Salata and Lynn Wright…plus 9 guest artists! Company designer Mary Louise Geiger will be designing the lighting, Colin Whitely the sound and Michael Friedlander will stage manage the evening. The production will be directed by Co- Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans.
Tickets are $65 (show only) and $100 (show and a fabulous reception with the artists immediately following the performance) and may be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/216865, or by phone 24/7 at 1-800-838-3006 . For more information, please visit www.tactnyc.org or call (212) 645-8228 .
Semi-Monde was first produced in 1977 by the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre. The English premiere was produced by the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, in 1979. It has been produced only once since, in 2001 by the Lyric Theatre of London. No further professional performances are known; the only other productions have been an amateur production by Arts Canterbury in Ottawa in 2006 and a public performance at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London in early 2007.
TACT/THE ACTORS COMPANY THEATRE’s celebrated company of actors was drawn together in 1992 by a love of the literature of the theatre. Since that time, they have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on their specific artistic vision and collective body of work. TACT company members, whose cumulative experience includes scores of significant roles on and off Broadway, in the country’s finest regional theatres and in many films and television shows, have received Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards, in addition to several Tony nominations.
After presenting thirteen seasons of “in-concert” performances, the company took a leap forward with its 2006-07 season by presenting fully staged productions of David Storey’s Home and The Sea by Edward Bond at The Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row. TACT became a resident company on Theatre Row with its 2007-08 season when they presented critically-acclaimed productions of The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, by Tennessee Williams, which The New York Times included in its “Top 10 Theatre Picks for 2008.” The company’s productions of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce, Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy, The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard, The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot, and this season’s opening production of A.R. Gurney’s Children became instant hits and enjoyed extended runs. The company will end its 2011-12 season with Lost in Yonkers, by Neil Simon. Previews begin on Tuesday, March 13th.
