Événement

Gualala Arts and ACT present Lillian Hellmans play, The Little Foxes

Arts Center Theater will present The Little Foxes, written by Lillian Hellman and directed by Karen Serratoni, on July 24-26, July 31 and August 1-2, 2009 at the Gualala Arts Center.

"Lillian Hellman's 1939 play about the 'dangers of greedy men and unfettered capitalism' may have you thinking of Bernie Madoff or Rod Blagojevich," said Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune. This incredibly harrowing - and incredibly entertaining - "southern melodrama" concerns the rapacious Hubbard siblings of Alabama, whose drive for wealth rules their lives.

The Little Foxes is a fabulous vehicle for ensemble acting, and Director Karen Serratoni has assembled a cast of talented locals to bring this timely play to the Art Center Theater stage. Kathye Hitt will bring to life Regina Hubbard Giddens, one of the great anti-heroines of American literature. Mike Turner and Jim Riley will portray the roles of Regina's brothers - wily Ben and boorish Oscar. These three characters are the "foxes" who are described in the script as those "who eat the earth and all the little people on it."

David Skibbins portrays Regina's husband, Horace, who counters the greed with a sense of honesty and fair play. Lynne Atkins assumes the role of Oscar's wife, the broken spirited Birdie whose real love centers upon Regina's young and idealistic daughter, Alexandra (Olivia Harrison). Leo (Mike Mee) is the spoiled son of Oscar and Birdie. Donna Yates Johnson and Dard Hunter will play Addie and Cal, faithful long time servants of the family, and Richard Schimbor, as Mr. Marshall, is the outsider that ignites the family fireworks.

Perhaps if Lillian Hellman were alive and still writing plays, she would transport her "Little Foxes" to a corporate boardroom. Her fictional turn-of-the-century robber barons bear an all too close resemblance to many of the ruthless and amoral business people who have been exposed recently in the press - those unethical mega businesses that have been ruled by greed and the desire for the quick buck. The only dated thing about the play is Ben Hubbard's declaration that "there are hundreds of Hubbards sitting in rooms like this throughout the country." Looking at today's financial crisis, we must question the modesty of his estimate - "hundreds" seems to be an understatement. Although written in 1939 and set in 1900, The Little Foxes is as modern as the nightly news.