NOVEMBER Opens at TheatreWorks New Milford, 9/14

On September 14, TheatreWorks New Milford will premiere the hilarious political comedy NOVEMBER by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet. Curtain is at 8:00 p.m. The show runs for four weeks.

NOVEMBER is the 2008 Tony Award-winning, scathingly hilarious take on the state of America today and the lengths to which people will go to win. Set just days before a presidential election, incumbent Charles Smith’s (Tom Libonate, Danbury) chances for re-election are looking grim. Approval ratings are down, his money’s running out, and nuclear war might be imminent. But Smith isn’t going down without a fight. As per White House tradition, the President pardons a couple turkeys before Thanksgiving, and it is this simple PR event that inspires Smith to risk it all in a hilarious attempt to make an eleventh-hour comeback.
“The first thing people should know is this show is not based on any president to sit in the White House,” said director Richard Pettibone of New Milford. “It’s not left, right, or center. Put simply, it’s very funny political satire based on a fictional president who will, literally, stop at nothing to get re-elected. Add to that the sharp-witted dialogue provided by master playwright David Mamet and you have the recipe for a laugh-filled night out.” Pettibone also designed the show’s set and lights.

“It’s a great way to get away from the ‘real’ Presidential race we’re being bombarded with daily via the news media…and have a ton of laughs at the expense of a fictional Commander-in-Chief,” said assistant director and stage manager Sonnie Osborne of New Milford. “This guy [President Smith] has no scruples, is basically a buffoon, but does seem to have a little bit of heart deep down inside. This play is not ‘The West Wing’. It is absolute over-the-top satire that reaches a hysterical climax that borders on farce. So audiences can check Oval Office ‘realism’ at the door and just laugh out loud at what unfolds in this riotous, politically incorrect satire.”

Besides Libonate, the cast features some of the area’s finest actors: Robyn Maitland (New Fairfield), Mike Ritts (Oxford), JoNathan Jacobson (Litchfield), and Matt McQuail (Newtown).
NOVEMBER made its Broadway debut on January 17, 2008 at the Barrymore Theater with Nathan Lane in the role of the President. The play was called “a hilarious, timely, decidedly un-Mamet-like laughfest” (The Hollywood Reporter), “extremely funny” (The New York Times), and a play that “rollicks from one politically incorrect punch line to the next” (The San Francisco Chronicle).

NOVEMBER runs September 14,15 21,22 28,29,30 October 5,6. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with a 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on September 30. Tickets for all shows are $20 for reserved seating. Please note: NOVEMBER contains language for mature audiences.

On Thursday, September 13, senior citizens are invited to a free dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 20 at 8:00 p.m. is TheatreWorks’ Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance, you name the price for your ticket.

Reservations can be made online at WWW.THEATREWORKS.US or by calling the box office at (860) 350-6863.

TheatreWorks is an award-winning, regional theatre company located on 5 Brookside Avenue, just off Route 202 (next to the CVS), in New Milford, Conn.

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