The Garfield Center begins its 2015 season with Johnna Adams’ powerful play “Gidion’s Knot.”
Professor of Drama Emeritus of Washington College, actor and director of scores of plays, Timothy Maloney brings his directorial talents to the Garfield stage for the first time with “Gideon’s Knot.” This two-person play features stunning performances by Jen Friedman and Polly Sommerfeld in a challenging and thought-provoking story.
During a parent/teacher conference in a 5th grade classroom, a distraught mother and an overwhelmed teacher try to construct a satisfying explanation for a child’s suspension, including the events at school and at home that preceded and followed that suspension. While in the process of confronting questions of teacher and parent responsibility, freedom of expression and societal restriction, morality, student rights, school discipline, academic freedom, the parent and the teacher find a way to come to terms with their personal culpability. The playwright, Johnna Adams, approaches these difficult issues with compassion, irony, objectivity, and surprising humor.
Director Maloney says “it’s a strong, challenging two-hander for two females written by a female, and for years I have been a strong advocate for American female playwrights and actors; it lends itself to flexible staging, which has always appealed to me; it articulates social and moral questions which it does not presume to answer; it is a dark play with a strong sense of irony and touches of unexpected humor; it seemed to me to bring a good balance to the Garfield 2014-15 season.”
A Washington Post review of a production of GIDION’S KNOT describes the play as a “particularly eloquent study of people caught between the competing demands of reason, morality and family…harrowing…a narrative that is as elegant as it is chilling.”
The production will run for three weekends from Friday, February 20 thru Sunday, March 8. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8PM. Sunday matinees are at 3PM. Tickets are $15 for general admission. Students with ID may pay the student rate of $5. Parents are advised that the play contains adult content that may not be suitable for children under 13.
For tickets, contact the Garfield Center Box Office by phone 410-810-2060 or email [email protected] or visit the Garfield Center website garfieldcenter.org.
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Our 2015 season is dedicated to the memory of Vincent Raimond, former Executive Director of the Kent County Arts Council, founder of Actors Community Theatre (A.C.T.), patron of the arts and friend to all artists.
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