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London Wall, John Van Druten’s 1931 Comedy, Extends Again at Mint Theater

Posted by:	Official_Press_Release 02:20 pm EDT 03/17/14

Mint Theater Once Again Extends the Acclaimed American Premiere of London Wall John Van Druten’s 1931 Comedy Continues Through April 20th "Watching Davis McCallum’s brisk, pitch-perfect production feels like stumbling across a lost film classic by Howard Hawks: how did this fresh and fizzy thing fall into obscurity?" - The New York Times “This witty, glisteningly crafted tale of a quartet of working women and the benighted men for whom they work has a distinctly contemporary flavor, enough that you'll come away wondering whether Van Druten might deserve credit for inventing the workplace comedy decades before it found favor on TV.” - Wall Street Journal “Writing this 1931 play, set in a law office, the playwright John Van Druten (“Bell, Book and Candle”) was prescient in his examination of the workplace as an evolving social construct, which provides a kind of family but is also fraught with the dangers of economic and sexual exploitation.” - The New Yorker Mint Theater's new production, London Wall by John Van Druten, featuring Julia Coffey, Katie Gibson, Matthew Gumley, Jonathan Hogan, Laurie Kennedy, Elise Kibler, Stephen Plunkett, Christopher Sears, and Alex Trow will now continue through April 20th at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street). This is the American premiere of John Van Druten’s “rivetingly entertaining” (The Guardian) romantic drama, which opens tonight, Monday February 24th. Davis McCallum, who staged the 2012 Pulitzer-Prize winning play Water by the Spoonful at Second Stage, as well as the award-winning production of The Whale at Playwrights Horizons, directs. London Wall has scenic design by Marion Williams, costume design by Martha Hally, lighting design by Nicole Pearce, sound design by Jane Shaw and properties design by Joshua Yocum. London Wall by John Van Druten explores the tumultuous lives and love affairs of the women employed as shorthand typists in a busy solicitor’s office in 1930’s London. Pat Milligan, a naïve young typist, falls for the charms of a predatory junior lawyer. Watching with concern is the firm’s senior secretary, her too-timid suitor and several others in the office. Presiding over all is Mr. Walker, gamely trying to navigate a new kind of office where men and women must work side by side. The play made its premiere in May of 1931 at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London and was acclaimed for its hyper-realistic depiction of office life as well as its soulful probing of the dreams and desires of its female characters. “Here is life as it is lived under the pressure of institutions,” wrote Ivor Brown in The Observer. “Here are people struggling with things, amusing each other, enraging each other, and enchanting each other.” "London Wall is a frank, non-moralistic love story that tries to provide a sense of how women with limited career opportunities really talked about sex and romance.” - Jason Zinoman, NEW YORK TIMES, February 16, 2014. Best known today for his Broadway hits as Old Acquaintance, The Voice of the Turtle, I Remember Mama, Bell, Book and Candle, and I Am a Camera (which inspired the classic Broadway musical Cabaret), John Van Druten wrote deftly observed, character-driven plays that ranged from the realistic atmosphere of his early West End plays, to the sentimental charm of his wartime hits, to the daring allurements of his final works. In his early West End plays, Van Druten became noted for his sensitive portrayals of young romantics and would-be bohemians, as well as for the “truthful naturalism” of his settings. Van Druten’s most successful plays during this era include the domestic drama After All (1931), London Wall (1931), for which Van Druten drew upon his personal experience working in a legal office, and the romantic comedy There’s Always Juliet (1932). Van Druten enjoyed a transatlantic success that carried him to Hollywood, where he co-wrote such classics as Gaslight, and also contributed (uncredited) to the screenplay of Gone with the Wind. Van Druten enjoyed phenomenal Broadway success in the WWII era, with a string of critically acclaimed hits. After the effervescent Old Acquaintance (1940), Van Druten wrote the three-character romantic comedy The Voice of the Turtle (1943), which ran for a stunning 1,557 performances. The nostalgic I Remember Mama, based on Kathryn Forbes’ novel Mama’s Bank Account, similarly moved wartime audiences as an impressionistic “family album.” Van Druten’s hits continued with Bell, Book and Candle (1950), about a seductive witch secretly practicing sorcery in modern Manhattan. 1951’s I Am a Camera, adapted from his close friend Christoper Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, provided an iconic role for Julie Harris as the decadent Weimar party girl Sally Bowles. Appreciated in his own lifetime for his “amusing, touching plays, written lightly and expertly, and with beguiling style” (as described by The New York Times’ Brooks Atkinson), Van Druten is in the midst of an exciting resurgence sure to stir vivid theatrical memories, as well as to enchant new generations of theater-goers. “The Mint does for forgotten drama what the Encores! series does for musicals, on far more modest means” (The New York Times). The Mint was awarded an OBIE for “combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition,” and a special Drama Desk Award for “unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit.” Ben Brantley, in The New York Times Arts & Leisure hailed the Mint as the “resurrectionist extraordinaire of forgotten plays.” Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7 PM, Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. Special added Wednesday Matinees on April 16th at 2pm. PLEASE NOTE: There will be no performances on April 15. Tickets are $55 with some half-price tickets (CheapTix) and Premium Seats ($65) available for most performances. Performances take place on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street. Tickets are available by calling the Mint box office toll-free at 866-811-4111 or go to www.minttheater.org where you can also see video, photos, and more!

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