Cox, Innvar, King, Robinette, Lorette and More Navigate Way of the World in DC
By Kenneth Jones
30 Sep 2008
Broadway's Veanne Cox and Christopher Innvar are lovers Millamant and Mirabell in The Shakespeare Theatre Company's new production of William Congreve's 1700 comedy, The Way of the World, Sept. 30-Nov. 16, in Washington, DC.
STC artistic director Michael Kahn directs the Restoration play — which many consider Congreve's best work — at STC's Lansburgh Theatre. Opening is Oct. 6.
"Featuring witty repartee in the grand tradition of The Country Wife and The Beaux' Stratagem, Congreve's delicious comedy of manners reflects on courtship and marriage," according to STC.
Cox starred in Broadway's Caroline, or Change, The Dinner Party and as Amy in Roundabout Theatre Company's Company (for which she received both Tony and Drama Desk nominations). Innvar appeared in Roundabout Theatre Company's 110 in the Shade; he's fresh out of Barrington Stage's Private Lives. They are both veterans of STC's Beaux' Strategem.
The cast also includes Floyd King as Witwoud, Andrew Long as Fainall, Nancy Robinette as Lady Wishfort, Colleen Delany as Foible, Julie-Ann Elliott as Mincing, Barbara Garrick as Mrs. Fainall and Deanne Lorette as Miss Marwood, with Peter Boyer, Stephen J. Hoochuk, Doug Rees, Todd Scofield and J. Fred Shiffman.
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"The Way of the World is about money, sex, power, appearances and deception, and finally, love," Kahn stated. "Mirabell and Millamant love each other, but they endlessly deceive other people, and each other, in order to achieve that love. And that is probably the truest relationship in the play! It's a huge comedy of deception, set in a society that really has money and sex at the heart of its concerns."
According to STC, "Amid the gossip and frivolous love affairs of fashionable London society, the clever and conniving lovers Millamant and Mirabell are determined to pursue a 'marriage of true minds.' But Millamant's jealous guardian stands in their way. The only way to achieve their goal is to beat the fops, the fools and the resentful rivals at their own game — through double-dealing and outrageous deception."
The creative team includes Tony Award-nominated costume designer Jane Greenwood (Ghosts, Mourning Becomes Electra), set designer Wilson Chin ("the production's neoclassical chocolate house and sitting rooms was inspired by dollhouses of the 1700s"), composer Adam Wernick, lighting designer Charlie Morrison and text coach Gary Logan.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre is located at 450 7th Street NW. For more information call (202) 547-1122 or (877) 487-8849 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
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STC launched an all-male Romeo and Juliet, in an intimate thrust configuration, directed by STC's associate artistic director David Muse, Sept. 9. Performances play to Oct. 12 in STC's other space, Sidney Harman Hall at 610 F Street NW.
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Christopher Innvar and Veanne Cox in The Way of the World
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| photo by Scott Suchman |
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