World’s End Theater reads Lillian Hellman’s famous play
World’s End Theater, the Philipstown-based company that recently produced The Way of the World and The Seagull, continues its popular 20th-Century Classics Reading Series with a free performance of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. at the Philipstown.info space, 69 Main St., Cold Spring.
Enough is not as good as a feast. This is the philosophy that drives the the Hubbard Family in Lillian Hellman’s unflinching examination of personal, familial and societal mores in Reconstruction Alabama. The title is a biblical excerpt from the Song of Solomon:
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the
vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
Regina Giddens (originally portrayed by Tallulah Bankhead, and immortalized on screen by Bette Davis) struggles for wealth and freedom within the confines of an early 20th-century society ruled by men. A deal brokered by her brothers to build a cotton mill in their town with the aid of a Chicago tycoon is nearly complete.
The plan is to “bring the machine to the cotton, not the cotton to the machine” and will result in tremendous profits for the principal investors. Controlling interest will stay in the family if only Regina can convince her husband, who is convalescing in a sanitorium in Baltimore with heart disease, to fund one third of the family’s investment. But her husband is not so easily persuaded, and the ensuing struggle has catastrophic results for the whole family, their servants, and the community as a whole.
The reading will feature Philipstown residents Jennifer Lee Andrews, Joseph Dunn, Liz Keifer, Gregory Porter Miller, Kadence Neill and Sterling Swann. Also featured will be Mark Colvson, Patrick Halley, George Kimmel and Tracey McAllister. The reading will be directed by Donald Kimmel.
Admission is free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Last season’s readings were filled to capacity more often than not, so early arrival is suggested to be sure of getting a seat.
The series of monthly readings will continue on Dec. 8 with a reading of Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris, directed by Rob Bissinger.
