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Contact

The Wharton Salon: Catherine Taylor-Williams

413-637-8961 c.taylorwilliams@gmail.com

The Mount: Lise Dubé-Scherr

413-551-5115 ldube-scherr@edithwharton.org

May 24, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHARTON SALON RETURNS WITH BITTERSWEET ROMANCE

“SUMMER” IN THE STABLES AT THE MOUNT

(August 18-29)

[THE MOUNT, LENOX, MA] The Wharton Salon, which enjoyed a sold-out run in its first season last year, returns with Edith Wharton’s Berkshire novella, Summer, adapted by Dennis Krausnick.  Performances will run for one week longer this year, including two weekday evenings (Wednesday and Thursday at 5:30 pm) and two weekend (Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 am) performances August 18-29.  Tickets are $35 General Admission and include a Day Pass to The Mount.  For tickets and information, call 413-551-5113 or visit www.whartonsalon.org or www.edithwharton.org

Directed by the Salon’s founder, Catherine Taylor-Williams, Summer features Adam Gauger, Reilly Hadden, Rory Hammond, Miles Herter, Alyssa Hughlett, Diane Prusha, and Robert Serrell with live music composed and performed by Alexander Sovronsky.  Performances take place in the Mount’s Stables Auditorium at the entrance to Wharton’s historic estate.  The play will run 90 minutes without intermission.  Audiences are encouraged to make reservations in advance, as the intimate 90-seat venue sells out quickly.  Summer has mature themes and may not be appropriate for children.

“Everyone was so pleased with how things went last year we thought we’d better come back,” says Taylor-Williams.  “I am excited to take on the challenge of directing this fragile coming-of-age story, and to have the chance to expand our company of actors and offer a longer run for the audience.”

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Wharton Salon,” says Susan Wissler, executive director of The Mount.  “Where better to see a classic Wharton work come alive than at The Mount, the home she created?”  \

Summer (1917) was affectionately referred to by Wharton as the “Hot Ethan,” and is often compared with its better-known counterpart, Ethan Frome.  The story follows the sexual awakening and coming of age of Charity Royall over a single summer, late May to early November 1890, reflected by the hills and trees of her native Berkshire landscape.

Synopsis: Charity Royall (Alyssa Hughlett) is bored and restless, working at the local library to save money to escape, when Lucius Harney (Adam Gauger), a handsome young New York cousin of the town matriarch arrives, researching a book about the historic houses in the area.  Their early romance is thwarted at first by Royall (Miles Herter), her oppressive guardian, who to keep Charity to himself makes an unwanted proposal of marriage.  Despite the growing suspicions of the townspeople, the relationship between Harney and Charity blooms in secret.  By late August, however, Charity is alone and pregnant, Harney having recently left to marry Annabel Balch (Rory Hammond), a girl of his own class and “the Beauty of Springfield.”  Charity begins a desperate search to secure the survival of her child; a journey leading her to self-discovery and ultimately acceptance.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was born into the tightly controlled society of “Old New York” at a time when women were discouraged from achieving anything beyond a proper marriage.  Wharton broke through these strictures to become one of America’s greatest writers.  Author of The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth, she wrote over 40 books in 40 years, including authoritative works on architecture, gardens, interior design, and travel. Essentially self-educated, she was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University and a full membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Wharton Salon performs the stories of Edith Wharton and her contemporaries in adaptation, offering a unique intimacy between author, actor and audience.  The plays are performed in site-specific locations allowing audiences to experience Wharton’s world through words, architecture and nature.

The Mount is a center for culture inspired by the passions and achievements of Edith Wharton. Designed and built by Wharton in 1902, the house embodies the principles outlined in her influential book, The Decoration of Houses (1897).  The property includes three acres of formal gardens designed by Wharton, who was also an authority on European landscape design, surrounded by extensive woodlands.  Programming at The Mount reflects Wharton’s core interests in the literary arts, interior design and decoration, garden and landscape design, and the art of living.  Annual exhibits explore themes from Wharton’s life and work. In the summer of 2010, The Mount launches the Berkshire Literary Festival, a vibrant gathering of writers and readers in one of the most beautiful settings in the Berkshires.

At A Glance

Production: Summer

Adapted from Edith Wharton, by Dennis Krausnick

Theatre: The Stables Auditorium, 2 Plunkett Street, Lenox, MA

Director: Catherine Taylor-Williams

Co-Producer: Lauryn Franzoni

Production Stage Manager: Lyn Liseno

Costumes: Arthur Oliver

Set: Carl Sprague

Technical Director: Maia Robbins Zust and Berkshire Production Resources

Cast: Adam Gauger, Reilly Hadden, Rory Hammond, Miles Herter, Alyssa Hughlett,

Diane Prusha and Robert Serrell

Music Composed and Performed by: Alexander Sovronsky

Dates/Times:     Wednesday, August 18 and Thursday, August 19; Wednesday, August 25 and Thursday, August 26 at 5:30pm

Saturday, August 21 and Sunday, August 22; Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29 at 10:30 am

Tickets: $35, General Admission.  Includes Day Pass to The Mount.  Wheelchair accessible.

Box Office: 413-551-5113 ; Box Office hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

For further information: www.whartonsalon.org or www.edithwharton.org

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