Different
Stages
Presents
The Constant Wife
by W. Somerset Maugham
Director Norman
Blumensaadt
Set Design Paul
Davis
Light Design Laura
Sandberg
Costume Design Marann
Faget
Sound Frank
Benge
Stage Manager Jonathan
Urso
Assistant Director Carol
Ginn
CHARACTERS AND CAST
Mrs. Culver
Melanie Dean
Bentley Zach
Blackwell
Martha Culver Michele Goodson-Burnett
Barbara Fawcett Julianna
Wright
Constance Middleton Emily
Erington
Marie-Louise Durham Martina
Ohlhauser
John Middleton F.R.C.S.
Eric Porter
Bernard Kersal Michael
Hankin
Mortimer Durham Craig
Kanne
ACT I
A summer afternoon.
ACT II
Late afternoon, a fortnight later.
Act III
One year later. Afternoon.
Scene: Dr. John Middleton’s house in Harley Street.
TWO INTERMISSIONS.
Produced by special
arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
THE PRODUCTION
COMPANY
ZACH
BLACKWELL(Bentley) is a 19 year old actor from small town Graham, TX., new to
the Austin area. I am currently a theatre major at ACC and have been involved
in twenty-eight different shows in the past four years. I hope to develop a
career in acting in my near future.
NORMAN
BLUMENSAADT (Director) is the Producing
Artistic Director for Different Stages.
Among the numerous shows that he has directed, a selection of just some
the 39 plays he has directed are The
House of Bernarda Alba, An Ideal
Husband, The Misses Overbeck, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Appointment
with Death, The Beard of Avon and The Hollow. In celebration
of his long and outstanding work in the Austin theater scene, the Austin Circle
of Theaters bestowed upon Norman the 1998 Deacon Crain/John Bustin Award. This
season he directs The Goat or Who is
Sylvia and The Constant Wife –
two plays about husbands, wives and infidelity.
PAUL
DAVIS (Set Design) The Pillowman, You’re No One’s: Nothing Special, The Glory of
Living, The Water Principle and The Drawer Boy at Hyde Park Theatre. Other designs include, Bent, Perdita, Quake, Coyote—A Fence,
Marion Bridge, Vigil, Art Stripped Naked, Little FootSteps, Corpus Christi,
Angels in America at Connecticut Rep,
The Knight in Finborough, England.
Scenic Artist for Connecticut Rep, Portland Stage, and Dallas Theatre
Center, he now teaches theatre at Leander High School. For Different Stages Paul has designed The House of Bernarda Alba, Two Gentlemen of Verona, An Ideal Husband,
Molly Sweeney and The Hollow.
MELANIE
DEAN (Mrs. Culver) has been doing theater in Austin for way over 20
years, so that makes her an “old timer”. She’s slowing down but she’s back! She
was last seen as Sitter Mavis in The Traveling Lady in 2003 for Different
Stages. In 2005, she appeared in The Jinn
for the Dirigo Group and The Flu Season
for Championship Theater. She has been nominated numerous times and has earned
4 B. Iden Payne awards fro a variety of roles. She would like to thank her
husband Travis for encouraging her to “get back out there” and Norman for the
opportunity.
EMILY
ERINGTON (Constance Middleton) has been in Austin theatre
since 1990 and has worked for Different Stages (Arms and the Man, Dangerous
Corner, The Raven, The Show-Off, The Trouble with Tofu), ONSTAGE Theatre Company (The Mousetrap, Harvey, Run For Your Wife, Bell, Book, and Candle),
Subterranean Theatre Company (Edmond,
Sin, Alabama Rain, Pterydactyls, Marvin's
Room), The Company (Black Comedy),
Zachary Scott Theatre (Damn Yankees,
Bleacher Bums, The Boys Next Door), Capital City Playhouse (The Heidi Chronicles), and Hyde Park
Theatre (Marion Bridge). For that
work, Emily has been nominated twice for (B. Iden Payne awards) and has
received a Critics’ Table Award. This November she and her husband Kent will
celebrate their own "very happy and successful marriage" of 12 years.
Special thanks to Kent for all his support during this production, as well as
to her children, Hannah (7) and Timothy (18 months).
MARANN FAGET (Costume Designer) is excited to be working with
Different Stages for the fifth time. Her costumes for Different Stages
production of The Beard of Avon were
nominated for an ACOT Award. AUSTIN CREDITS: Pro-arts Collective, Austin Lyric
Opera, Sam Bass Theater, Storie Productions, Refraction Arts’ critically
acclaimed Philomel Project, One World
Theatre: Groucho (starring Gabe
Kaplan), Zachary Scott Theater, and Oracle Theater REGIONAL CREDITS:
Colorado: Windsor Community Playhouse: A Delicate Balance, Ten
Little Indians, Relatively Speaking. Bas Bleu Theatre: The Caretaker, Trifles.
Minnesota: Resident Costume Designer (1989-1995) at Rochester Community
College: Spoon River Anthology, Veronica's Room, Lunacy, Tobacco Road, Luv. Rochester Civic
Theater: A Shayna Maidel. Rochester Repertory
Theatre: Lone-star, Laundry and Bourbon, Agnes of God,
Private Wars. Feast and Footlights Theater: Steel
Magnolia. INTERNATIONAL CREDITS:
Greece: Chios Civic Theater: Kidnapping
of the Pope, Arsenic and Old Lace. Marann has four children and
one granddaughter, resides in Austin, and loves to play poker.
MICHELE
GOODSON-BURNETT (Martha Culver) has appeared Off-Broadway
in The Cradle Will Rock at the Jean
Cocteau Repertory Theatre, and in multiple performances for New York’s Ballet
for Young Audiences. Regionally, she has appeared in productions for the
Lincoln Amphitheatre (Young Abe Lincoln,
The Music Man) and Huntington Outdoor Theatre (Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Oklahoma! (Ado Annie)). Other
favorite roles include The Rivals
(Lydia), The Barretts of Wimpole Street
(Henrietta), Hamlet (Polonius) and Carnival (Lili). Michčle is a
founding member of the Marshall Theatre of the Air, and has directed and performed
in the National Broadcasting Society and Marconi award winning radio productions
of Gaffe’s Trail and Murder in Real City. Originally
from Huntington, West Virginia, Michčle currently resides in Austin, Texas with
her husband, Steven.
MICHAEL
HANKIN (Bernard Kersal) has been a professional actor and director in
the theatre and films since`many years ago and dreams of doing nothing
else. Thanks to Norman and Carol and
all for this wonderful opportunity to do this delicious play.
CRAIG
KANNE (Mortimer Durham) has been working for the City of Austin's Water Conservation
Department for longer than he cares to remember and working in theatre for
longer than he can remember. Recent
shows that he does recall are It Runs in the Family for Oracle Theater
Company and The Beard of Avon for Different Stages. His real name is Ashenden.
ERIC
PORTER (John Middleton, F.R.C.S.) holds a BFA from The University of
Texas and an MFA from ACT in San Francisco. He has been a professional actor,
director, educator, and for a short time worked as the assistant to the Senior
VP of casting at Paramount Studios. Eric has performed in such regional
theaters as PCPA Theaterfest, ACT, the Cleveland Play House, St. Louis Rep.,
Monomoy Theater , and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. He has worked in New York
City , at the Manhattan Theater Club (Durang,Durang),
the Vivian Beaumont Theater (Three Tall
Women), the Lucille Lortell (Vampire
Lesbians of Sodom), and Playwright’s Horizons,(The Butcher’s Daughter). Austin credits include director/actor in The Women of Lockerbie, City Theater
Austin, Scrooge Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild
Christmas Binge, Different Stages; Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Public Domain; and the title role
in the Southwest premiere of The Night
Larry Kramer Kissed Me at Cap
City. He was honored with the B. Iden Payne Award for outstanding lead actor
for his performance in Steel Kiss at
the Vortex. He wishes to thank his fellow cast mates, Norman, Carol , his
friends and family ,and the Austin Theater community for their support.
MARTINA
OHLHAUSER (Marie-Louise Durham) takes the stage a second time for
Different Stages since she played Sara Tansey in The Playboy of The Western World in November of 2005. She has most recently been in Paradox
Players' Dearly Beloved as twins,
Gina Jo and Tina Jo, and Sam Bass Theatre's production of All In The Timing, where
she played Jill in English Made Simple
and Milton in Words Words Words. Aside from scratching her acting itch
from time to time, she enjoys karaoke, voice lessons, and the occasional pint
with friends.
LAURA SANDBERG
(Light Design) has been designing scenery and
lighting around Austin for many years now; as much as her very
demanding dogs and cats can tolerate, and her day job as a ‘computer geek’
permits. Well OK, maybe a little more than her job really permits, but
who can resist challenges such as this one? Other favorite design
projects have included A Perfect Ganesh, Gary Grinkle's Battles with
Wrinkles, The Hobbit, The Snow Queen,
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Mad Forest, King Stag, and Allen Robertson's Beauty and the Beast.
JULUANNA
WRIGHT (Barbara Fawcett) This is Julie's third performance with
Different Stages. You may remember her
as Midge in Agatha Christie's The Hollow
or, most recently, as The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future in
Christopher Durang's Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge. When not working with DS, Julie is the
Co-Artistic Director of Second Youth Family Theatre, a local children's theatre
production company. As a recently published
playwright, Julie is happy to step away from her roles as writer, producer,
director, and wear her oldest, and most comfortable hat. Enjoy the show.
.
PRODUCTION
STAFF
Light Operator/Sound Operator John Urso
Set Construction Paul Davis,
Johnathan Urso
Carpentiers Chris Cogwell,
Grace Lowry, Frank Cazares
Web Master Aleta
Garcia
Properties Norman
Blumensaadt,
Costume
Design Intern Alana
Anthony
Costume
Construction Paula
Gilbert, Alana Anthony,
Elspeth
Mickel, Marann Faget
Graphic Artist Sarah Seaton
Photographer-Publicity Brett
Brookshire
Program Norman
Blumensaadt
Publicity Carol
Ginn, Norman Blumensaadt, Scott Tesh
Email Guru Scot
Tesh
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
William Somerset Maugham
was born in the British Embassy in Paris on 25th January, 1874. William's father,
Robert Ormond Maugham, a wealthy solicitor, worked for the Embassy in France.
By the time he was ten, both William's parents were dead and he was sent to
live with his uncle, the Rev. Henry Maugham, in Whitstable, Kent.
After an education at
King's School, Canterbury, and Heildelberg University in Germany, Maugham became
a medical student at St. Thomas Hospital, London. While training to be a doctor
Maugham worked as an obstetric clerk in the slums of Lambeth. He used these
experiences to help him write his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897).
The book sold well and he
decided to abandon medicine and become a full-time writer. Maugham achieved
fame with his play Lady Frederick (1907), a comedy about money
and marriage. By 1908 Maugham had four plays running simultaneously in London.
On the outbreak of the
First World War, Maugham, now aged forty, joined a Red Cross ambulance unit in
France. While serving on the Western Front he met the 22 year old American,
Gerald Haxton. The two men became lovers and lived together for the next thirty
years. During the war Maugham was invited by Sir John Wallinger, head of
Britain's Military Intelligence (MI6) in France, to act as a secret service
agent. Maugham agreed and over the next few years acted as a link between MI6
in London and its agents working in Europe.
Maugham had sexual
relationships with both men and women and in 1915, Syrie Wellcome, the daughter
of Dr. Thomas Barnardo, gave birth to his child. Her husband, Henry Wellcome,
cited Maugham as co-respondent in divorce proceedings. After the divorce in
1916, Maugham married Syrie but continued to live with Gerald Haxton.
During the war, Maugham's
best-known novel, Of Human Bondage
(1915) was published. This was followed by another successful book, The Moon and Sixpence (1919). Maugham
also developed a reputation as a fine short-story writer, one story, Rain, which appeared in The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), was also
turned into a successful feature film. Popular plays written by Maugham include
The Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), The Constant Wife (1926) and the
anti-war play, For Services Rendered
(1932).
In his later years Maugham
wrote his autobiography, Summing Up
(1938) and works of fiction such as The
Razor's Edge (1945), Catalina
(1948) and Quartet (1949). William
Somerset Maugham died in 1965.
"I have never
pretended to be anything but a story teller. It has amused me to tell stories
and I have told a great many. It is a misfortune for me that the telling of a
story just for the sake of the story is not an activity that is in favor with
the intelligentsia. I endeavor to bear my misfortunes with fortitude."
(from Creatures of Circumstance,
1947)
QUOTES BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are
much easier to give up than the bad ones.
Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom
will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will
lose its ease and comfort too.
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from
acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything
for myself that I could pay others to do for me.
If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this
forever. Is that good news?
If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts.
It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything
but the best you very often get it.
Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of
the species.
Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make
a habit out of it.
Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in
nature; and the error is ineradicable.
Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions
of its puppets.
My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if
it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.
She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast
stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of
the obvious.
The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be
sacrificed to expediency.
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we
love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed
after a certain interval by a baby.
We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.
What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has
been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge
as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published
a dreary book about French literature.
When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing
personality over character.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SPECIAL THANKS
Bonnie Cullum and the
Staff of The Vortex, Russ Wiseman & Dougherty
Arts Center, Austin Circle of Theaters, Ann Ciccollela, Barbara Chisholm and
Zackary Scott Theater, Douglas Kelley, Craig Kahnne, Zach Blackwell, Karen
Jambon, Royce Gehrels
Different Stages, Inc. has been a
community-based organization since its inception in 1981 and incorporation in
1984. It produces works by playwrights
whom we believe to be defining forces in theatre. We seek to entertain with performances that reveal life in all
its comedy, tragedy and intensity; and we hope to educate by choosing plays
that provide exceptional insight into the human condition. By challenging ourselves as artists and our
audiences as participants, we endeavor to provide the community with vigorous
and exciting live theatre.
Board of Directors: Karen Jambon T.J. Moreno, Norman Blumensaadt Operating
Board: Norman E. Blumensaadt, Sarah
Seton, Royce Gehrels, and Paula Ruth Gilbert.
Funding and Donations
Director Level $5000+
The City of Austin
Actor Level $1000 - $5000
Karen Jambon & Jennifer Underwood
Stage Manager Level $500-$999
Designer Level $250-$499
Royce
Gehrels, Bruce McCann, Emily and Kent Erington,
Connie McMillan, Harvey Guion
Stage Hand
Level $100-$249
Karen
Kuykendall, Irene Dubberley, Sarah & David Seaton Keith Yawn, Pamela Bates,
Marla Boye, Melanie & Travis Dean, Anonymous, Ann Bower, The Pizer
Foundation, Bonnie & Frank Cahill
Audience Level
$20-$99
Miriam Rubin, David Smith & Tom White,
M.D., Rebecca Robinson, Reba Gillman, Charles Ramirez Berg, Dianne Herra,
Rodney & Donna Le Roy
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Mary Alice
Carnes, Sarah Seaton
This project is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division
and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
DIFFERENT STAGES’ REPERTORY
Begun as Small
Potatoes Theatrical Company
1981: August Strindberg’s Creditors
and The Stronger. 1982:
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. 1983: George Bernard Shaw’s
Candida; Anton Chekhov’s The Brute, Swan Song, and Celebration. 1984: Luigi Pirandello’s Right You Are (If You
Think You Are); Jane Martin’s Talking With… 1985: Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9; William
Shakespeare’s As You Like It; Carl Sternheim’s The Underpants;
Michael Weller’s Moonchildren. 1986:
Amlin Gray’s How I Got That Story; William Shakespeare’s The
Winter’s Tale; Eugene O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon. 1987: Michael Weller’s Loose Ends;
Aristophanes’ The Wasps; Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart; Arthur
Schnitzler’s Anatol. 1988:
Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon; Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk
Wood; Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky; Jean Racine’s Phaedra;
Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The Misanthrope. 1989: Caryl Churchill’s Fen; Charles
Ludlam’s The Artificial Jungle; William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of
Venice. 1990: Eric Overmeyer’s On
the Verge; Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Milan
Kundera’s Jacques and His Master; Tom White’s The Trouble with Tofu;
William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.
1991: George Kelly’s The Show-Off; George
Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Keith Reddin’s Life and Limb;
Mozart/Lorenzo da Ponte’s Cosě fan Tutte; Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The
Learnčd Ladies. 1992:
Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind; Carlo Gozzi’s The Raven;
Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck; Charles MacArthur’s Johnny on a Spot;
George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer. 1993: Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s
Good; Charles Ludlam’s The Secret Lives of the Sexists; Tennessee
Williams’ Orpheus Descending. 1994:
Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans; William
Shakespeare’s Cymbeline; George M. Cohan’s The Tavern; Marlayne
Meyer’s Etta Jenks. 1995:
Pierre Marivaux’s The Triumph of Love; Tom Stoppard’s Travesties;
Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me; Alexander Ostrovsky’s The Diary of
a Scoundrel. 1996: Caryl Churchill’s Mad
Forest; Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee; William Congreve’s The
Way of the World. 1997: Terrence
McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh; Dorothy Parker’s Here We Are; Alan
Ayckbourn’s Drinking Companion; Terrence McNally’s Noon; George
M. Cohan’s Seven Keys to Baldpate; Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the
Paycock. 1998: Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia;
Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; Giles Havergal’s Travels with my Aunt;
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. 1999:
Edit Villareal’s My Visits with MGM; Jean-Baptiste Moličre’s The
Hypochondriac (tr. Martin Sorrel); Edward
Percy and Reginald Denham’s Ladies in Retirement; Anton Chekhov’s Uncle
Vanya. 2000: Peter Parnell’s The
Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket; Ann
Ciccolella’s Fruits and Vegetables; George S. Kaufman and Marc
Connelly’s Merton of the Movies; Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of
Inishmaan. 2001: Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters; George Bernard Shaw’s
The Devil’s Disciple; J. B. Priestly’s Dangerous Corner;
Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke.
2002: Ann Ciccolella’s Madame X; David Linsay-Abaire’s Fuddy
Meers; Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest; Federico Garcia
Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba.
2003: Christopher Durang’s Betty’s
Summer Vacation; Horton Foote’s The Traveling Lady, William Shakespeare’s
Two Gentlemen of Verona; Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. 2004:
John Patrick’s The Hasty Heart; Tom White’s The Misses Overbeck;
Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney, George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man. 2005:
William Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Edit Villareal’s Marriage
is Forever; Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death; John
Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. 2006: Two into War (The Gifts of War
and The Retreating World); Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon;
Agatha Christie’s The Hollow. Christopher Durang’s Mrs’Bob Cratchit’s
Wild Christmas Binge. 2007: Edward
Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia. Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and
Lovage, W. Sommerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife.