HELENA'S HUSBAND by Philip Moeller
THE THING'S THE PLAY by Gayle Stahlhuth based on O. Henry
SUPPRESSED DESIRES by Susan Glaspell with George Cram Cook
Directed by Gayle Stahlhuth
July 29 - September 5
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM
Tickets: $35; $30 (ages 62+); $20 students and military (active/retired/veteran)
Ages 12 and under free
July 29 - September 5
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM
Tickets: $35; $30 (ages 62+); $20 students and military (active/retired/veteran)
Ages 12 and under free
A fun filled evening about couples!
King Menelaus of Sparta longs for someone to take his wife so he can have peace and quiet. Enter a
shepherd who has been promised a "pretty girl" by a gypsy. Turns out the shepherd is Prince Paris of Troy.
Two men fight over the same woman in the O. Henry tale, and which one
she ends up with and how, is through a twist of fate.
The interpretation of dreams is at the core of Suppressed Desires. If wrongly deciphered, can dreams lead to divorce?
King Menelaus of Sparta longs for someone to take his wife so he can have peace and quiet. Enter a
shepherd who has been promised a "pretty girl" by a gypsy. Turns out the shepherd is Prince Paris of Troy.
Two men fight over the same woman in the O. Henry tale, and which one
she ends up with and how, is through a twist of fate.
The interpretation of dreams is at the core of Suppressed Desires. If wrongly deciphered, can dreams lead to divorce?
THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Philip Moeller (1880-1958) was a theatrical producer and director, playwright and screenwriter, born in New York where he helped found the Washington Square Players and then with Lawrence Langner and Helen Westley, founded The Theatre Guild. He attended New York University and Columbia University. Productions he directed for The Theatre Guild include R.U.R. (1922), The Adding Machine (1923), The Guardsman (1924), They Knew What They Wanted (1924), Ned McCobb's Daughter (1926), The Second Man (1927), Strange Interlude (1928), Meteor (1929), Dynamo (1929), Hotel Universe (1930), Elizabeth the Queen (1930), Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), Biography (1932), Ah, Wilderness! (1933), and End of Summer (1936)
O. Henry (1862-1910) was born William Sydney Porter in North Carolina. At age 15, he left school to train as a pharmacist in his uncle’s drug store.
At age 20, he moved to Texas, where he supported himself by working a string of itinerant jobs. In 1887 he moved to Austin where he met and married Athol Estes Roach. It was here that he found employment as a teller with the First National Bank of Texas, a job that eventually led to his being charged with having embezzled $5,000.00. There has been much debate over his actual guilt, and many believe he was protecting someone. Rather than stand trial, he fled to Honduras, where, apparently he hoped to establish himself and then send for his family. When he learned that his
wife had tuberculosis, he returned to the United States in 1897. In 1898, his wife died, and he began a five-year sentence in the Ohio State Penitentiary. While in prison, he adopted his pseudonym, and wrote his first short story, “A Retrieved Reformation” about a robber who desires to go straight. It became an immediate success. O. Henry served only three years of his prison term, and was released in 1901. In 1902, he moved to New York City where nearly three-quarters of his 600-plus stories are set. When he died of cirrhosis of the liver, at the age of 47, he had 23 cents in his pocket. To this day, he is honored by having the most renowned annual collection of American short stories named after him. ELTC produced a world premiere based on his “The Ransom of Red Chief” adapted by Gayle Stahlhuth.
At age 20, he moved to Texas, where he supported himself by working a string of itinerant jobs. In 1887 he moved to Austin where he met and married Athol Estes Roach. It was here that he found employment as a teller with the First National Bank of Texas, a job that eventually led to his being charged with having embezzled $5,000.00. There has been much debate over his actual guilt, and many believe he was protecting someone. Rather than stand trial, he fled to Honduras, where, apparently he hoped to establish himself and then send for his family. When he learned that his
wife had tuberculosis, he returned to the United States in 1897. In 1898, his wife died, and he began a five-year sentence in the Ohio State Penitentiary. While in prison, he adopted his pseudonym, and wrote his first short story, “A Retrieved Reformation” about a robber who desires to go straight. It became an immediate success. O. Henry served only three years of his prison term, and was released in 1901. In 1902, he moved to New York City where nearly three-quarters of his 600-plus stories are set. When he died of cirrhosis of the liver, at the age of 47, he had 23 cents in his pocket. To this day, he is honored by having the most renowned annual collection of American short stories named after him. ELTC produced a world premiere based on his “The Ransom of Red Chief” adapted by Gayle Stahlhuth.
THE PROVINCETOWN PLAYERS: Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook
Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) was born and raised on a farm in Davenport, Iowa. By age 18 she was a journalist, and by 20 had her own column. As a reporter for The Des Moines Daily News, she covered murder cases and the state legislature, but quit the paper to write fiction full-time. Her stories appeared in “Harper’s” and “The Ladies’ Home Journal.” She moved to Chicago and in 1909, her first book was published, The Glory and the Conquered. It became a New York Times best-seller. Financially secure, she toured Europe for a year. In 1915. with her husband, George Cram Cook, she co-founded the first modern American theater company, the Provincetown Players. Though Provincetown Players was a critical success, Glaspell had to continue writing and selling short stories to pay the bills. After Cook died in Greece in 1924, she returned to Provincetown, MA to write his biography, The Road to the Temple. She continued to write plays, and garnered the Pulitzer Prize for Allison’s House in 1931. Most of her nine novels, fourteen plays and over fifty short stories are set in Iowa.
George Cram Cook (1873-1924) was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, the son of one of the town's oldest and wealthiest families. From 1895-1899, he taught English literature at the University of Iowa, laying the groundwork for what would become the famed Iowa Writers Workshop. In 1907, Cook met Susan Glaspell and they were married in 1913. They moved from Davenport to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 1915, Cook and Glaspell founded the Provincetown Theatre Group, turning a shack at the end of a fisherman's wharf, into a theater. The following year, they took the Provincetown Players to New York’s Greenwich Village. Plays first produced here were written by Glaspell, Cook, and Eugene O’Neill, but Edna St. Vincent Millay, Theodore Dreiser, John Reed, Mabel Dodge and others soon joined the group. Cook led the Players until 1919, at which time he took a year-long sabbatical. He did not stay long upon his return, partially due to O’Neill’s decision to deal only with Broadway, no longer allowing Cook to produce his plays. By 1920, O’Neill was on the fast-track to success, and this demand was reasonable. Cook was heart-broken. He’d produced nearly one-hundred new plays by fifty American playwrights during his time with the Provincetown Players. In 1922, Cook and Glaspell moved to Delphi, Greece. In 1924, he came down with typhus and died. His obituary appeared on the front page of The New York Times.
Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) was born and raised on a farm in Davenport, Iowa. By age 18 she was a journalist, and by 20 had her own column. As a reporter for The Des Moines Daily News, she covered murder cases and the state legislature, but quit the paper to write fiction full-time. Her stories appeared in “Harper’s” and “The Ladies’ Home Journal.” She moved to Chicago and in 1909, her first book was published, The Glory and the Conquered. It became a New York Times best-seller. Financially secure, she toured Europe for a year. In 1915. with her husband, George Cram Cook, she co-founded the first modern American theater company, the Provincetown Players. Though Provincetown Players was a critical success, Glaspell had to continue writing and selling short stories to pay the bills. After Cook died in Greece in 1924, she returned to Provincetown, MA to write his biography, The Road to the Temple. She continued to write plays, and garnered the Pulitzer Prize for Allison’s House in 1931. Most of her nine novels, fourteen plays and over fifty short stories are set in Iowa.
George Cram Cook (1873-1924) was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, the son of one of the town's oldest and wealthiest families. From 1895-1899, he taught English literature at the University of Iowa, laying the groundwork for what would become the famed Iowa Writers Workshop. In 1907, Cook met Susan Glaspell and they were married in 1913. They moved from Davenport to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 1915, Cook and Glaspell founded the Provincetown Theatre Group, turning a shack at the end of a fisherman's wharf, into a theater. The following year, they took the Provincetown Players to New York’s Greenwich Village. Plays first produced here were written by Glaspell, Cook, and Eugene O’Neill, but Edna St. Vincent Millay, Theodore Dreiser, John Reed, Mabel Dodge and others soon joined the group. Cook led the Players until 1919, at which time he took a year-long sabbatical. He did not stay long upon his return, partially due to O’Neill’s decision to deal only with Broadway, no longer allowing Cook to produce his plays. By 1920, O’Neill was on the fast-track to success, and this demand was reasonable. Cook was heart-broken. He’d produced nearly one-hundred new plays by fifty American playwrights during his time with the Provincetown Players. In 1922, Cook and Glaspell moved to Delphi, Greece. In 1924, he came down with typhus and died. His obituary appeared on the front page of The New York Times.
THE CAST
Veronique Hurley was in ELTC's The Rainmaker, Sherlock Holmes Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, Silent Sky and Biography. Off Broadway Theatre Credits include: The Tempest, As You Like it, Twelfth Night, Hunting and Gathering (The Glass Eye), Women are crazy because men are Assholes (Cherry Lane Theatre); Regional Credits Include: Noises Off, To Kill A Mockingbird, Christmas Carol, (The Hartford Stage Company) The Straight Marriage Plays, Moon Over Buffalo (Cape May Stage), Around the World in 80 Days (won best ensemble, Broadwayworld.com), Bunnicula and Charlotte's Web (Playhouse on Park). Member AEA.
Mat Labotka was in ELTC's The Rainmaker and Sherlock Holmes Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. An alum of Chicago’s Second City Conservatory and Marquette University, Mat is both classically trained and freshly comedic. New York credits include Henry in The King’s Face, Albert in Relativity of Love (Break A Leg), Victor in The Star and The Fire (90 Square Arts). Chicago credits include Metropolis Theatre, Circle Theatre, Second City, iO Chicago, Underground Lounge. Mat also performs in commercials, improv and stand-up comedy. matlabotka.com Member AEA.
Mark Edward Lang Theater and corporate training events have taken him to 35 U.S. states and around the world; including trips to Malaysia, Tanzania, Copenhagen and Istanbul. Favorite roles include Alfred Lunt in the biographical drama Lunt and Fontanne: The Celestials of Broadway (FringeNYC and Classic Theatre of San Antonio; also playwright), Captain Robert Scott in Terra Nova and Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest (Hilton Head Playhouse), The Actor in ELTC’s The Guardsman (with wife Alison J. Murphy), seven roles in the Irish comedy Stones in his Pockets (Open Stage of Harrisburg), Kosti in Welcome Home Marian Anderson (Off-Broadway and tour); and ELTC’s The Rainmaker, Ah, Wilderness!, Biography, Zorro!, Christopher Bean, The Poe Mysteries, Dulcy, Butter and Egg Man, Why Marry?, The New York Idea, Voice of the City, The Dictator (2001), Four by Four and You and I (Best Actor Jacoby Award, 2007). He’s performed Shakespeare, Molière and new works in NYC and on tour; as well as theater workshops and directing, including ELTC’s Anna Christie. Graduate of Vassar College. Member AEA, SAG-AFTRA.
Alison J. Murphy has appeared in New York productions of Lunt and Fontanne: The Celestials of Broadway (with her husband Mark Edward Lang), Aurora Leigh, The Wound of Love, and ELTC’s Why Marry? at the historic Players Club. Past ELTC productions in Cape May include The Late Christopher Bean, The Dictator, The New York Idea, Voice of the City, Four by Four, Why Marry?, You and I, Dulcy, and The Guardsman. For Access to Art in Cape May, she portrayed Rosalind in As You Like It and Margaret Roper More in Bound by Truth, by Sheila Rinear. She has also worked with American Stage Company and Shakespeare in the Garden, in productions of Cloud Nine, Elephant Man, Extremities, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. Film: The Love of My Life (Frank Faralli, director). She also teaches acting workshops. Member AEA.
Gayle Stahlhuth has performed off-Broadway (Manhattan Theatre Club, etc.) in national tours (Cabaret, Fiddler, etc.), regional theater (Gateway Playhouse in Long Island, etc.), television (various soaps, etc.), radio (jingles and Voice of America), and on the Chautauqua Circuit. Since becoming ELTC’s Artistic Director in 1999, she has produced over 100 differerent plays/musicals (some returned for another season), including 21 world premieres and 10 NJ premieres, and directed over half of them. Her adaptations for ELTC include Tales by Twain, that also ran at Surflight Theatre; Spoon River, based on the famous Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, and The Ransom of Red Chief based on O.Henry's classic tale. She’s been awarded commissions from The National Portrait Gallery, the Missouri and Illinois Humanities Councils, and grants from the NJ Humanities Council, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts. For several years she was a judge for the Emmy Awards in the field of broadcast news. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and the League of Professional Women, who honored her in 2016 for her work in theater.
