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INVENTING THE HOUSMANS - SYMPOSIUM FEBRUARY 14, MODERATED BY WILMA THEATER DRAMATURG CARRIE RYAN For Immediate Release: January 10,
2000 Philadelphia, PA - January 10 - A symposium featuring Mark Alhadeff and Martin Rayner, the actors playing young and old A.E Housman in the upcoming Wilma production of Tom Stoppard's THE INVENTION OF LOVE, will take place at The Wilma Theater on Monday, February 14 at 7:00pm. Literary Manager and Dramaturg Carrie Ryan will moderate the symposium, which is part of the Wilma's ongoing audience education initiative. Tickets are $3 for subscribers and $5 for the general public. In THE INVENTION OF LOVE, Oscar-winner Tom Stoppard explores the life of classical scholar and renowned poet A.E. Housman. Old and infirm, Housman dreams that he is dead. As Charon, the mythical boatman, ferries him across the river Styx, Housman returns to the Oxford of his youth, where he fell in love with the scholarship and with his fellow student Moses Jackson. Stoppard's dream world includes Victorian London, where parliament has made homosexuality a crime, and the French seashore, where Oscar Wilde - convicted of that very crime - is living out his final days. This complex and rewarding play weaves ideas, wit and passion. Martin Rayner came to America from his London home in 1983 and was a member of Adrian Hall's Company for nine years at Dallas Theatre Center and elsewhere. He won a Drama Desk Award for Travels With My Aunt. He now lives on both coasts, doing theatre and playing Doctor Chaotica in Star Trek Voyager. Mark Alhadeff has played Claudio in Measure for Measure and the title role in Romeo and Juliet at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. This is The Wilma Theater debut for both. Carrie Ryan joined the staff of The Wilma Theater in the summer of 1999 following a stint at Seattle Repertory Theater. She has a Masters Degree in dramaturgy from Columbia University, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Other audience education initiatives for THE INVENTION OF LOVE are also scheduled. Every Monday night during the run of THE INVENTION OF LOVE, The Wilma Theater will host a "Book Club" to give interested patrons and community members unique insights into the script by Tom Stoppard and enhance further viewing of the play. Several discussions with the actors in THE INVENTION OF LOVE will be presented for audiences and the general public after select Saturday matinees and Thursday evening performances. The discussions will occur after the February 24th, March 2nd and March 9th Thursday evening performances and after the February 19th and February 26th Saturday matinee performances. THE INVENTION OF LOVE begins previews on February 9 and opens February 16. Tickets to the symposium and to the play are available at The Wilma Theater box office, 215.546.7824 or online at www.wilmatheater.org. ###
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