The script-in-hand presentation — fully costumed, with lighting design and movement — is directed by Scott Alan Evans and features Cynthia Darlow, Cynthia Harris, Greg McFadden, Eve Michelson, James Murtaugh, James Prendergast, Kate Ross, Gregory Salata, Scott Schafer and Jenn Thompson.
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Lighting is by Juliet Chia, costumes by David Toser and music by Colin McGrath. The stage manager is Dawn Dunlop.
TACT is run by co-artistic directors Scott Alan Evans, Simon Jones and Cynthia Harris. The company is "dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life."
The Marriage of Bette and Boo tells the story of "three decades of marriage, divorce, alcoholism, nervous breakdowns and death — all blended in a unique mix of irony, humor and farcical brilliance by one of America's most gifted modern playwrights," according to the TACT announcement. The play is at turns absurd, serious and darkly funny. Durang is considered a master at skewering the domestic side of life. In Baby With the Bathwater, a kind of companion piece to Marriage of Bette and Boo, he addresses parenting.
In fall 2002, Pittsburgh City Theatre staged the world premiere of Durang's wicked spoof of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge.
Performances of The Marriage of Bette and Boo play at the company's new home, Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute Alliance Français, 55 East 59th Street, 7:30 PM Oct. 18, 2 PM Oct. 19 and 7:30 PM Oct. 20.
For tickets, call (212) 307-4100 or visit Florence Gould Hall/French Institute Alliance Français box office.
Other productions in TACT's 11th season include Fathers and Sons by Brian Friel, after the novel by Ivan Turgenev, Nov. 22-24; The Good Soup (La bonne soupe) by Felicien Marceau, adapted by Garson Kanin, Jan. 24-26, 2004; The Chalk Garden by Edith Bagnold March 13-15, 2004.
At the end of the season, the company presents a new work, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Project by Christopher Piehler, drawing on court testimony and first-hand accounts of the Manhattan labor tragedy that sparked changes in building safety codes and fueled workers' rights and unionism.
The piece, a slight shift in mandate for the company, is created in collaboration with TACT company members, and will play in a full production format May 7-28, 2004, at a theatre to be announced.
In 2002, the company staged Noel Coward's Long Island Sound in a full staging.
For more information about TACT and the entire 11th season, visit www.tactnyc.org
