September 29 - October 22, 2006

Director: Pauline Griller-Mitchell

Evening Performances:
September 29, 30, October 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 8
Sunday Matinees:
October 15 and 22 at 2.

Silver Spring Stage presents the frothy, fun and festive The Play’s the Thing by Ferenc Molnar, translated by P.G. Wodehouse. The play, directed by Pauline Griller-Mitchell and produced by Michael Sandner, is a delightful send-up of playmaking when a playwright hastily writes a scene to convince a young composer that the eavesdropping on his fiancée was merely mistaken as making love to an actor. The Play’s the Thing will run weekends September 29 to October 22, 2006.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices range from $13 to $18. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees on October 15 and 22 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

The Play's the Thing, P. G. Wodehouse's 1926 English adaptation of Ferenc Molnar's Hungarian comedy "The Play at the Castle" is a charming and joyous satire of the theatre – its personalities, vanity and conventions. Molnar, translated in witty dialogue by Wodehouse, artfully blends a spoof of the modern theatre (example a dialogue with the audience on how the play might be written) with a lovely display of the way in which cultured behavior can overcome life's chaos. Molnar was one of Hungary’s greatest 20th century writers. Being Jewish, he escaped Europe in 1940 to spend the last part of his life in the United States. Prolific in theatre, journalism and novels, his works combined realism and romanticism, cynicism and sentimentality. His most famous play was the ethereal “Liliom”, later adapted into the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel”. Best known for the Jeeves novels, P.G. Wodehouse enjoyed enormous popular success for his comic writings, including plays and lyrics (he worked with Cole Porter and Jerome Kern; he wrote the lyrics for Showboat’s “Bill”). Audiences will revel in this enchanting comedy in the style of Pirandello meets the Marx brothers via Noel Coward.

The Play’s the Thing is set in an Italian castle beside the Mediterranean. Sandor Turai (Jeff Westlake), a successful playwright, and Mansky (Craig Miller), his common-sense collaborator, have just arrived at the castle in the middle of the night with their newest protégé Albert Adam (Brandon Mitchell), a young composer hopelessly in love with singer/actress diva Ilona (Anne Vandercook). The three have made the mistake of planning to surprise Ilona, who's also staying at the castle. As they settle into their suite, they suddenly overhear Ilona in the next room making love to Almady (Rich Amada), a ham actor and former flame. The sensitive Adam goes to pieces declaiming he'll never write another note of music. Mansky is ready to cancel the show then and there. Turai devises a plan to insure that his newest, most glorious production will not close at 3 A.M. out of town. To convince the distraught Adam that Ilona and Almady were not making love but simply rehearsing a play that they will perform for the other castle guests that evening, Turai writes a play incorporating the ghastly real-life dialogue they have overheard, blackmail Ilona and Almady into acting in it and then make sure that the distraught young composer discovers the "truth" himself. Two other eccentric characters, the servant Johann Dvornitschek (John Barclay Burns) and Mell (Chris Mancusi), the castle concierge, add to the fun.

The production team includes Rob Allen (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), Andy Greenleaf (Set Design), Jim Robertson (Lighting Designer), David Steigerwald (Sound Designer), Nancy Jaquish (Properties) and Joan Roseboom (Costumes).

The Stage’s 39th season continues with the classic Americana Bus Stop (Nov. 10-Dec 3), humorous and heartfelt Visiting Mr. Green (Jan. 12-Feb. 4), antic and hilarious Dimly Perceived Threats to the System (Feb. 23-Mar. 18), funny and sensitive The Drawer Boy (Apr. 13-May 6), enchanting and delightful Morning's at Seven (May 18-Jun. 10) and thrilling and thought-provoking Never the Sinner (Jun. 29-July 22). Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Maryland State Arts Council and Combined Federal Campaign.