Strindberg's Creditors, Newly Adapted and Directed by Wright, Opens in La Jolla Oct. 4

By Kenneth Jones
04 Oct 2009

Creditors stars Kathryn Meisle and Omar Metwally
Creditors stars Kathryn Meisle and Omar Metwally
Photo by Craig Schwartz

Tony Award nominees Kathryn Meisle and Omar Metwally and Drama Desk Award nominee T. Ryder Smith star in the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright's Creditors, adapted from the 1888 play by August Strindberg, opening Oct. 4 after previews from Sept. 29 at La Jolla Playhouse.

Wright (I Am My Own Wife, Quills, Grey Gardens, The Little Mermaid) directs the production, to play through Oct. 25. A La Jolla Playhouse commission, Creditors plays in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at LJP in La Jolla, CA.

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Wright stated, "Creditors is Strindberg's underappreciated masterpiece; on its surface, it's a tautly structured thriller, but underneath its heart-pounding plot lies a rich, unsettling rumination on the toxicity of love."

Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912) is known for Miss Julie, The Father and other works.

According to production notes, "Adaptor/director Doug Wright gives August Strindberg's Creditors a modern-day urgency in this compelling and savagely witty play. Two men — an artist and a mysterious stranger — strike up a seemingly innocent conversation at a seaside resort. As they exchange increasingly intimate perspectives on art, marriage and women — in particular, the artist's wife — undercurrents of sexuality, language and economics explode into a tangled web of intrigue, suspicion and revenge in this gripping 19th century psychological thriller."

"We are delighted to continue our long association with Doug Wright, whose acclaimed I Am My Own Wife inaugurated our Page To Stage program," stated La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley. "Commissions represent a core component of our artistic mission, and we couldn't be more excited to help originate Doug's latest creation."

Meisle (Broadway's Tartuffe, for which she was Tony-nominated) is Tekla, Metwally (Tony Award nomination for Sixteen Wounded) is Adolf, and T. Ryder Smith (Equus, Dead Man's Cell Phone and a Drama Desk nominee for Underneath the Lintel) is Gustav.

The production team includes Robert Brill (scenic designer); Susan Hilferty (costume designer); Japhy Weideman (lighting designer); Jill BC DuBoff (sound designer); Shirley Fishman (dramaturg); and Jennifer Wheeler (stage manager).

In 2004 playwright Doug Wright was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for his play I Am My Own Wife. In 2006 he received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his book for the Broadway musical Grey Gardens. He also authored the book for the stage incarnation of Disney's The Little Mermaid.

For more information and tickets, call (858) 550-1010 or visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

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La Jolla Playhouse has commissioned more than 30 plays over the last several seasons. Commissions "are a fundamental part of the Playhouse's mission to advance theatre as an art form and provide unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow," according to the not-for-profit company. Past Playhouse commissions include Claudia Shear's Restoration (2009), Current Nobody (2005), The Burning Deck (2003), Tony Kushner's Good Person of Setzuan (1994), Lee Blessing's Fortinbras (1991), Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters (1997) and many others.