STILL LIFE
generously underwritten by Manon and Ian Slome
WRITTEN BY EMILY MANN
DIRECTED BY JADE KING CARROLL
IN COLLABORATION WITH PLAYHOUSE CREATURES
LIVE at Ancram Opera House
September 30 - October 9
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7p
Saturday, Sundays at 2p
Pay What You Will Night: Thursday, October 6th at 7pm.
You decide how much to pay!
Still Life is a searing and revealing documentary play about the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam conflict on a former marine, his wife, and another woman with whom he has an intimate relationship, gleaned from interviews and refined to illuminate the post war experience. The man confesses to a war crime and returns home, carrying the seeds of violence with him. The wife wants to ignore the terrors that haunt her husband, while the other woman blames the forces that conditioned him before he went to Vietnam. In the end, Still Life provides a snapshot of America in the turbulent 1970s–a country in the throes of an unpopular war abroad and social upheaval at home.
“For those of us who were young in the 1970s, this is a play that may bring back bitter memories and anger and also a script that resonates today. So, it is a terrific emotional challenge for both the audience and the actors. Under the capable direction of Jade King Carroll, the tightly-knit ensemble confronts the pain of the three characters head on.”
—Berkshire on Stage
“This is a thorny, accomplished revival of a singular play of the Viet Nam War by a giant in American theater. Drop all your plans this weekend and grab one of these tickets.“
—Nippertown
“In a fine production at the Ancram Opera House in Ancram, N.Y., three excellent actors are taking on these characters and defining their problems for a more modern audience.“
—The Berkshire Edge
FREE Community Events Inspired by Still Life
A Conversation with Emily Mann
Saturday, October 8th at 11am
Before the Saturday matinee, AOH will host a conversation with nationally renowned playwright Emily Mann.
LOCAL CHARACTERS: Vietnam Stories
Our first video has posted! Check it out here!
AOH’s Local Characters series features interviews with neighbors and friends throughout the region. For our upcoming series of interviews, we are seeking those with stories from the time of the Vietnam War. Interviews are posted on our website, as well as the Ancram Opera House YouTube channel! Email info@ancramoperahouse.org if you have a story to tell!
ABOUT EMILY MANN
Emily Mann is a multi-award-winning theatre director and playwright. In her 30 years as Artistic Director and Resident Playwright at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey, she wrote 15 new plays and adaptations, directed more than 50 productions, produced 180 plays and musicals, supported and directed the work of emerging and legendary playwrights, and received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Her plays include: Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Annulla, An Autobiography; Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Mrs. Packard; and Hoodwinked (a Primer on Radical Islamism). Her play, Gloria: A Life about the legacy of Gloria Steinem, ran Off- Broadway and aired on PBS’ Great Performances. On Broadway, she has directed her plays Execution of Justice and Having Our Say as well as Nilo Cruz’ Anna in the Tropics and Tennesse Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Among her many awards, Ms. Mann has received six Obies, a Guggenheim; a Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and was recently inducted into the American Theater Theater Hall of Fame.
photo by Matt Pilsner
ABOUT JADE KING CARROLL
In New York, Off-Broadway credits include Primary Stages: New Golden Age; Audible/New York Theatre Workshop: Proof of Love; Lincoln Center Institute: Autumn’s Harvest; The Playwright’s Realm: Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth; SummerStage: The Etymology of Bird; and Atlantic Theater Company: Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money. In regional theaters across the country her work has been seen at Portland Stage, Hartford Stage, McCarter Theatre Center, City Theatre Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Marin Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory, Chautauqua Theater Company, among others. Awards include the Paul Green Award from the National Theatre Conference and The Estate of August Wilson, TCG New Generations Future Leader, Van Lier, SUNY 40 under 40, Gates Millennium Scholar. Jade has just been named Producing Artistic Director of Chautauqua Theater Company.
photo by Mical Hutson
ABOUT PLAYHOUSE CREATURES
Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company (PCTC) is dedicated to strengthening the legacy of the American Theatre with dynamic, affordable programming that examines the influence of the past on the present and future of our art form.
Since 2009, PCTC has produced sixteen Main Stage productions, seven new works series, 28 staged readings (including John Guare’s original work, More Stars Than There Are In Heaven), four Tennessee Williams festivals, a World Premiere of a Tennessee Williams play, and several NYC premieres. PCTC has won and been nominated for twenty-one theatre awards.
This production of Still Life is part of PCTC’s season-long legacy project honoring Emily Mann. Each play (event) is a benefit for social justice organizations related to each play’s major issues.
