The Huntington Theater Company will
present the East Coast debut of "The Hopper Collection,"
by up-and-coming playwright Mat Smart, at the Boston
University Theatre from March 3-April 2.
The themes of isolation and time slipping away in "The Hopper Collection"
are true to the play's muse, American artist Edward Hopper,
whose inscrutable and unmistakably American works put him among the
most popular artists in the world. The play tells the intersecting stories
of two couples, who could very well dwell in a Hopper painting themselves.
Reclusive art collectors Marjorie and Daniel have spent a lifetime together,
but their bond is a tempestuous one of love mixed with bitterness. They
live on opposite sides of a house littered with objects purchased by
Daniel in his endless attempts to regain his wife's affection. One such
purchase is Hopper's painting "Summer Evening,"
which has become a talisman of sorts for Marjorie as she clings to the
memory of her teenage encounter with the artist. Marjorie revels in
the decades-old story of how Hopper gazed at her with an artist's eye
in the changing light of dusk — the very same light that envelops
his figures in "Summer Evening."
Into Marjorie and Daniel's damaged lives comes Edward, whose beloved
Sarah has recently vanished with only one clue: a message-less postcard,
addressed to him in Sarah's hand, but featuring only the image of Hopper's
"Summer Evening."
"We first read this astounding new play in our
2005 Breaking Ground Festival where it came to life
with such vigor," said Huntington Artistic Director Nicholas
Martin. "Mat Smart is a fresh new voice on the American
theatre scene, and this play is as sharp as it is affecting
Praised nationally as a young talent worth watching,
Mat Smart is already a two-time winner of San Diego Playbill's award
for Best New Play for "The Hopper Collection"
and "Hand, Foot, Arm, and Face." His New
York credits include "The Debate Over Courtney O'Connell
of Columbus, Nebraska," "Shoes," "Chopin's Preludes"
and "Pure." His plays have had readings at
the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Cherry Lane Theatre,
Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company and the Pittsburgh
Public Theater.
Smart first became haunted by Hopper's "Summer Evening" in
2003, while he was in Lewiston, Maine. He had been researching the experience
of 1,500 Somalis who moved to predominately white Lewiston to begin
their new lives as American citizens. But during that project, he became
sidetracked after seeing an image of "Summer Evening" in an
Edward Hopper book.
The Huntington Theatre Company first brought Smart's
"The Hopper Collection" to Boston by way of its annual Breaking
Ground Festival of new play readings. Like Melinda Lopez' "Sonia
Flew" and Stephen Belber's "Carol
Mulroney," Smart's play has made the leap from a reading
to a full-scale Huntington production. Before this East Coast premiere,
"The Hopper Collection" had a successful run in late 2005
at San Francisco's Magic Theatre.
The Huntington production will be directed by Daniel Aukin,
the artistic director of the Soho Repertory Theatre,
an incubator space for the development of unconventional plays. At the
Soho Rep since 1999, Aukin's directorial credits include "Everything
Will Be Different" by Mark Schultz (world
premiere, Oppenheimer Award winner), "Suitcase" by
Melissa James Gibson (which Aukin also directed at the La
Jolla Playhouse), and "Molly's Dream" by
Maria Irene Fornes.
The cast of "The Hopper Collection" includes: Therese
Barbato, Brian Leahy, Leslie Lyles and Bruce McKenzie.
Related special events in conjunction with "The Hopper Collection"
include:
March 7
EMERGING PLAYWRIGHT'S FORUM
Presentation featuring playwright Mat Smart and led
by a member of the Huntington's artistic staff. This pre-show "sneak
preview" begins at 6:30 p.m. in the theatre. Free with ticket purchase.
March 16 and March 29
ACTORS FORUM
Participating members of "The Hopper Collection" cast will
appear after the 7:30 p.m. performance on Mar. 16 and after the 2 p.m.
performance on Mar. 29 to answer audience questions. Free with ticket
purchase.
March 19
HUMANITIES FORUM
Humanities Forum is a lively discussion about the issues and ideas presented
in the production. After the 2 p.m. show. Free with ticket purchase.
For tickets and information, visit the box office at
264 Huntington Avenue in Boston, call 617 266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org
or www.bostontheatrescene.com.
--
OnStage Boston
