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| NEWSROOM |
| ORSON'S SHADOW PLAYWRIGHT AUSTIN PENDLETON VISITS ROUND HOUSE THEATRE |
 | Round House Theatre's Producing Artistic Director Emeritus and director of Orson's Shadow Jerry Whiddon (L) and Producing Artistic Director Blake Robison (Center) speak with Orson's Shadow playwright Austin Pendleton.
playwright Austin Pendleton. |
Valentine's Day was especially sweet this year at Round House Theatre when the theatre hosted playwright Austin Pendleton and guests for a performance of his play ORSON'S SHADOW. Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright come to life in this clever comedy that re-imagines the backstage drama that accompanied a 1960 production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. A fictional account of real events, ORSON'S SHADOW uses humor and irony to reveal the fragility and vulnerability of these larger-than-life celebrities whose tangled romance and fleeting fame lead to a hilarious and powerful clash of the titans.
A brilliantly funny script, great acting, expert direction, and outstanding production values have all combined to make Round House Theatre's production of ORSON'S SHADOW an audience favorite. The show is also an across-the-board hit with critics, ironically a group that does not escape Pendleton's sharp wit:
"Immensely enjoyable... smartly entertaining"—Peter Marks, The Washington Post
"[A] deliciously witty...highly entertaining comedy"—Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times
"A clever comedy which will keep you laughing."—Artistically Speaking
"Great fun ...with a lively, literate and genuinely funny script ...touching [and] filled with marvelously quotable wit."—Potomac Stages
"Absolutely audacious and hilarious... searingly funny"—DC Theatre Reviews
ABOUT AUSTIN PENDLETON
Austin Pendleton has written two plays prior to ORSON'S SHADOW: Booth (published by Samuel French) and Uncle Bob (Dramatists Play Service). Booth has been presented at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Long Wharf, the York Theatre of New York City and (in a new, as-yet unpublished version) at the Writers' Theatre in Chicago. Uncle Bob has been produced twice in New York (first at the Mint Theatre and later by Steven Sendor at the SoHo Playhouse) and the world over. Mr. Pendleton is also an actor (in theatre, film and television), a director, and teacher of acting at New York's HB Studio. He was nominated for a Tony Award® as Best Director (Play) for directing Elizabeth Taylor in a revival of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Last summer he performed with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline as the Chaplin in the New York Shakespeare in the Park production of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. An ensemble member at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, he appeared there this season in Love Song and The Sunset Limited. The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy, which later played for the month of November in New York City.
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