Next at the Mint... Philip Goes Forth by George Kelly August 24th - October 14th FPC Hotline: (212) 315-0231 Fax: (212) 977-5211 Address: 311 W. 43rd St. Suite 307 New York, NY 10036 Box Office: Mon.- Sat Noon-6pm Sun.- Noon-3pm Performances: Tues., Wed., Thurs. 7pm Friday & Saturday 8pm Saturday & Sunday 2pm *Wed Matinee: 9/4, 10/2 *No Performances: 9/3, 9/17, 10/1 evening 8/24
Full Price: $55 FPC Price: $38.50 (Use Code: FPC) CheapTix: $27.50 (when available)
NEXT AT THE MINT
Philip Goes Forth George Kelly DIRECTED BY Jerry Ruiz BY
August 24th - October 14th “I’d go to the only place that a person can go to do this kind of thing,—and that’s New York. There’s more drama around there in ten minutes than there is in a city like this in ten years.” Pilip Goes Forth tells the story of a young man who rebels against his father and a career in the family business and ventures to New York to write plays. He leaves home without his father’s support or blessing, but with this warning: “Don’t imagine, whenever you get red floa ng around up there in the clouds that you can drop right back into your place down here;—that isn’t the way things go—” George Kelly’s comedy made its debut at the Biltmore Theater on Broadway in January of 1931—just four months before the comple on of the Empire State Building, bea ng the Chrysler Building for the tle of “world’s tallest building”. That same year the George Washington Bridge would open, welcoming young people from all over the country, each seduced by the promise of fame and fortune. New York was the city of dreams—and Kelly’s humorous examina on of one young dreamer remains an exquisite portrait of coming-of-age in modern America. “Nothing Mr. Kelly has wri en is lacking in dis nc on and Philip Goes Forth is no excep on,” wrote Robert Garland in the New York World-Telegram calling the play a “gripping character study—human, unhurried and gently edged with sa re.” Arthur Ruhl of the Herald-Tribune echoed the praise, calling the play, a “de piece of work… an evening full of deligh ul humor and light sa re.” Commending Kelly’s rhythmic, wi y dialogue, the New York American wrote, “he laps thick, rich conversa onal cream.” Philip Goes Forth is “George Kelly at his best,” writes Outlook, “which ought to be good enough for anybody.” Not everybody agreed. Kelly has some discouraging words for Philip, his aspiring young author—and this rubbed a few cri cs the wrong way. The Times’ Brooks Atkinson
was especially disgruntled. “To discourage the neophytes about coming to New York and trying their fortune with the arts is to accept considerable responsibility,” Atkinson proclaimed, while missing the point of the play. Kelly responded in the Times a few days later: “The playwright is o en bewildered when he reads the distorted accounts of his play the next morning in the papers.” Kelly was so disappointed by the lack of cri cal percep on that he gave up wri ng for the theater for the next five years. Talk about discouraging! Last March, Mayor Bloomberg announced 2012 as a landmark year for popula on influx in New York City. “Of those who have come, most have been from 25 to 34 years old,” reports The New York Times. There are s ll “thousands of Philips” going forth every day. Mint Theater is thrilled to allow George Kelly’s original Philip to crusade once more— presen ng the play’s first New York revival in 82 years. Jennifer Harmon, pictured here in our 2010 produc on of Dr. Knock by Jules Romains will return to The Mint as Mrs. Ferris in Philip Goes Forth.