PL AYBILL the play’s the thing
the play’s the thing ferenc molnÁr adapted by p.g. wodehouse }{
approximate running time: 1 hour 50 minutes. there will be one 20 min intermission
ARTIST NOTE: DIEGO MATAMOROS We’re laughing... a lot, in rehearsal. Hoping the play and its magic will translate itself into moments undefined and undefinable. This is the third time I’ve played Sandor Turai for Soulpepper over a span of some 15 years and I’m finally about the right age for the character. This entire cast is outstanding and every day I look forward to working with all of them. The stage manager Nancy Dryden and the entire crew are no less admirable to me for all that they contribute on a daily basis. Victoria Wallace is one of my very favourite designers and she’s also always there to help solve design ‘stuff’ as it comes up. Our director László Marton is a dear and trusted friend whom I’ve worked with now for nearly 30 years, he’s been my great theatre master over all these years and I respect and love him dearly for all that he is and does for us at Soulpepper.
this: You enter a large, strange building and go to a little booth and pay some money. They give you a little piece of paper. You take your little piece of paper, go and check your coat at another stall and someone else there takes your coat and gives you another little piece of paper. You take your first piece of paper and at another door give it to a stranger in black who allows you to enter this large empty space full of seats in rows. You find your seat and sit down amongst strangers and you’re asked to turn off anything that might keep you in contact with the outside world. You wait. You start to wonder how it is that you ever got there in the first place and then suddenly and all at once the lights dim, the room goes dark, (someone coughs) and then... well... there you are... that’s the theatre for you.
Inspired by a story László told us one afternoon about what Molnár described as ‘Theatre’ I’ll give you my version of what ‘the theatre’ really is. It goes something like p roduc t ion s p on sor
DIEGO MATAMOROS, Sandor Turai in The Play’s the Thing
CREATIVE TEAM
THE PLAY’S THE THING
CAST
Oliver Dennis Johann Dwornitschek
C. David Johnson Almady
Raquel Duffy Ilona Szabo
Diego Matamoros Sandor Turai
Gordon Hecht Albert Adam
Gregory Prest Mel
William Webster Mansky
Produc t ion
László Marton Director
Kevin Lamotte Lighting Designer
Kelly McEvenue Alexander Coach
Julie Fox Original Set Designer
John Lott Sound Designer
Nancy Dryden Stage Manager
Victoria Wallace Costume Designer & Remount Set Designer
Nic Vincent Assistant Lighting Designer
Jordana Weiss Assistant Stage Manager
Jacqueline Robertson-Cull Head of Hair & Makeup
Barbara Nowakowski First Hand
Greg Chambers Props Builder
Geoff Hughes Joanne Lamberton Cutters
Natalie Swiercz Dresser
Tracey Taylor Props Handling
Will Sutton Carpenter
Paul Boddum Scenic Painter
SOULPEPPER PRODUCTION
Kiyomi Hidaka Sewer
The Play’s the Thing is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
cover illustration: the heads of state.
BACKGROUND NOTES
Life isn’t all theatre
W
e welcome the return of this comic sparkler from Hungarian playwright – and Soulpepper favourite – Ferenc Molnár. The Play’s the Thing was part of our 2nd season in 1999 and returned in 2003. Once again, László Marton directs and Diego Matamoros plays the witty, successful dramatist, Sandor Turai. The play, written in 1926, still has a contemporary feel especially in the way it acknowledges the theatrical conventions it uses and sends them up at the same time. And the timeless comedy of P.G. Wodehouse’s admirable adaptation only makes things funnier.
The idea for the story actually came from real life: Molnár passed a room where his wife, actress Lily Darvas, was meeting with her German tutor. He overheard her proclaiming her love to the man! Molnár barged in and caught them in the act... of reading a torrid love scene from a German play. Perhaps he didn’t dash immediately to his desk but as you will see, he didn’t have to adapt the situation greatly to make it work theatrically.
The play’s as sweet and light as a Viennese pastry, and as warm as the company of an an old friend. Sit back and enjoy.
Playwright Biography Born Ferenc Neumann to an affluent Jewish family in Budapest in 1878, the writer-journalist changed his name to Molnár, to reflect his Hungarian nationality. In 1907 his hit novel about street gangs appeared. The Paul Street Boys, now considered a classic, is still in print. He spent the ‘20s and ‘30s writing some of his greatest plays including The Play’s the Thing. In 1940, he fled to the U.S. to escape the Nazis. Translations of his early plays had already been well received in America, so his career as a playwright, and screenwriter continued until his death in New York City in 1952.
Molnár was a master of the sophisticated style that defines high comedy. As critic Vincent Canby said, Molnár’s delicious plot delights in showing “the way civilized behaviour can (sometimes) triumph over life’s usual chaos.” Particular fun here comes from the play-within-a-play. It’s modelled on the work of French playwright Victorien Sardou (1831-1908). Largely unknown today, Sardou was the Neil Simon of his time, hugely popular for his (melo)dramatic romances.
Tidbits & Background Notes by 2015 Soulpepper Resident Artist Paula Wing
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
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Soulpepper is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper are represented by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
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