Beckett Play Provokes

Playwright Harold Pinter called Samuel Beckett's plays "works of beauty." The Literary Encyclopedia credits them for their "acute awareness of the absurdity of human existence."  Two excellent actors, Dana Ivey and Jack Wetherall, take the Beckett challenge and star in his powerful, compelling play "Happy Days" at Westport Country Playhouse. The New York Times noted the play's "bitter, often earthy, humor (that) lights it up."Dana Ivey, who plays Winnie in "Happy Days," received Tony Award nominations for roles in “Butley,” “The Rivals,” “Heartbreak House,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo.” Off-Broadway, she won Obie Awards for “Quartermaine’s Terms,” “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” and “Driving Miss Daisy,” for which she also earned an Outer Critics Circle Award. She has been inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. Her films include “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Sabrina” and “The Color Purple.”

“Some of the greatest actresses of the last half-century have hungrily embraced the unique challenges, at once comic and tragic, of the role of Winnie, a middle class housewife trapped in a mound of earth while going on with her daily existence as best she can---humorously, yet with a crazy kind of dignity and spirit,” says Playhouse artistic director Mark Lamos. 

Jack Wetherall, who also stars in "Happy Days," appeared on Broadway in the title role of “The Elephant Man.”  On television, he was on “Queer as Folk” for four seasons as Vic. The production runs from July 6 – 24, as part of the 80th Anniversary Season at Westport Country Playhouse. Mark Lamos speaks about Beckett’s inspiring play at a Playhouse Symposium on Sunday, July 11, following the 3 p.m. matinee performance. For  more information on the production, visit the Westport Playhouse website.

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