Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson (The Rainmaker) and Jeffrey Jones will star in Triangles for Two by David Wiltse, at the Westport Country Playhouse, July 24-Aug. 5. Joe Grifasi will direct. The world premiere comedy asks the question, Do men and women speak the same language?
Atkinson is currently enjoying a moment in the sun: her performance in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of The Rainmaker won her a 2000 Tony Award nomination. Her other credits include Ivanov at Lincoln Center Theater and The Skriker at the Public Theater.
Jeffrey Jones is a familiar face to film audiences. Among his many supporting turns are roles in "Amadeus," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "The Crucible," and "Beetlejuice."
Director Grifasi is primarily known as an actor, with film credits including "Presumed Innocent," "Money Train" and "One Fine Day."
* The Westport season opened with The Constant Wife, directed by Joanne Woodward (who has taken a management position at the theatre this year), and continued with Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow and A.R. Gurney's Ancestral Voices, starring Woodward and Paul Newman.
Also set for this season at Westport are:
• Morphic Resonance by Katherine Burger, Aug. 7-19, a comedy/drama about thirtysomethings in love in Manhattan, starring John Cunningham directed by James Naughton.
• Nicolette and Aucassin, book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by David Friedman, Aug. 28-Sept. 9, a premiere musical of a 12th Century fable, featuring Bronson Pinchot.
The Westport Country Playhouse was founded in 1931 by Laurence Langer, the co-founder of the Theatre Guild. The 1830 barn Langer selected was converted into a theatre by architect Cleon Throckmorton, who had also designed the Cape Playhouse in East Dennis, MA. The stage was given the same dimensions at Broadway's Times Square Theatre, in order to better serve the transfer of plays from Westport to New York.
Appearing in the theatre's early years were such actors as Helen Hayes, Eva Le Gallienne, Jessica Tandy and Henry Fonda. The Playhouse also occasionally hosted play tryouts, which went on to success on Broadway, including Blue Denim, Come Back, Little Sheba and Butterflies Are Free.
Tickets are $10-$38. The Westport Playhouse is located off Route 1 in Westport, CT. Call (203) 227-4177 or contact the website at www.westportplayhouse.com.
--By Robert Simonson
