ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

JONATHANBANK

By JOHN

GALSWORTHY

Directed By

ELEANORREISSA

with:Nick Berg BarnesDenis ButkusMonique FowlerJames GaleLeo KittayDiana LaMarNicole LowrancePat NesbitCarl PalmerStephen RoweJohn C. VennemaRichard Waddingham

JUNE 21st through AUGUST 14thTues., Wed., Thurs. at 7:00; Fri. & Sat. at 8:00, Sat. & Sun at 2:00

To order tickets call (212) 315-0231Or visit our on-line Box Office: www.minttheater.orgPerformances at 311 W. 43rd St. 3rd floor

Set Design

Vicki R. Davis

Lighting Design

Traci Klainer

Costume Design

Tracy Christensen

Sound Design

Bruce Ellman

Dialect Coach

Amy Stoller

Props Specialist

Judi GuralnickAssistantCostume DesignerColleen Kesterson

Casting

Stuart Howard, Amy Schecter & Paul HardtProductionStage Manager

Amber Wedin

Press Representative

David Gersten & Associates

Graphic Design

Jude Dvorak

SURROUND EVENTS: THE SKIN GAMEDiscussions last approximately 50 minutes and can be attended by all Mint patrons to any performance of The Skin Game free of charge.

Saturday, June 25 (following the matinee) Nouveau Riche—Galsworthy and Chekhov Explore the Struggle for Progress.Join Christian Parker, Dramaturg of Atlantic Theatre Co.’s current production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Mint ArtisticDirector Jonathan Bank as they contrast and compare the characters of Lopakhin (The Cherry Orchard) and Hornblower (The SkinGame). Both characters are newly rich, both want to develop land owned for centuries by rich ruling families, both are despised for it—what makes these characters ‘tick’ and why is their struggle a compelling one for two master dramatists?

Saturday, July 9 (following the matinee) Playing Galsworthy Join cast members and Mint Artistic Director Jonathan Bank for a discussion on the making of The Skin Game.

Saturday, July 16 (following the matinee) John Galsworthy, His Life and WorkMildred Kuner, Professor Emerita of English and Comparative Drama at Hunter College will speak on Glasworthy and his work.Professor Kuner received her MFA from Yale and her PhD from Columbia and taught at the New School and NYU. She was aFulbright Scholar, winner of the Maxwell Anderson and Charles Sergel Awards for Playwrighting. Her plays have been producedin university theaters, off-Broadway and at the Bristol Young Vic. She has written a monograph on W. Somerset Maugham, a critical biography of Thornton Wilder, a dramatic adaptation of Victoria Holt’s The Mistress of Mellyn and is a lecturer on theaterfor WNYC Television.

Saturday, July 23 (following the matinee) Place MattersStruggles over land use have been common throughout history in urban, suburban and rural settings? How does the use of landaffect its residents? Do places hold memory for individuals and for communities? Why does place matter so much to us? Join guestspeakers from the Municipal Arts Society and Place Matters for a discussion stimulated by the struggles over land in The Skin Game.

-PLEASE KEEP FOR YOUR RECORDS-I ordered tickets for THE SKIN GAME for_______ 2005 @ ___pm. Paid By: ❏ Visa/MC/Amex ❏ Check #_______

This Mint performance will be held on the 3rd floor at 311 West 43rd Street.All tickets are HELD at the Box Office - available for pick-up starting ONE HOUR prior to curtain. NO LATE SEATING!

Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday at 7pmFriday-Saturday at 8pm & Saturday-Sunday at 2pm

How to purchase your tickets for THE SKIN GAME• By Mail (or) In-Person: Mint Theater Company

(No Service Charges) 311 West 43rd Street, 5th floorNew York, NY 10036

• By Phone: (212) 315-0231 ($2.50 per ticket service charge will apply)

• On-line: www.minttheater.org (No Service Charges)

• Special rates available for groups of 15 or more

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$35 for performances June 21st – July 10th $45 for performances July 12th – August 14th *No performance July 3rd

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BOX OFFICEHOURS

Mon thru Fri 12-6pm

Box Office hours will expand June 21st

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

JONATHANBANK

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MTC-SKINGAMEflyer 5/13/05 12:00 PM Page 1

311 W. 43RDSTREET 5THFLOOR

NEW YORK, NY 10036 www.minttheater.org

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PAIDNew York, NY

Permit No. 7528

ByJOHN GALSWORTHYDirected By

ELEANOR REISSA

By JOHN GALSWORTHY

Mint Theater is proud to bring you a gripping drama from one of the world’sgreatest storytellers: John Galsworthy, winner of the Nobel Prize for literaturein 1932 and author of The Forsyte Saga.

The Skin Game tells the story of a bare-knuckled brawl between neighbors:One treasures the view that his family has enjoyed from their windows forgenerations, and the other would block that view in the name of progressand his own social advancement.

The award-winning Mint Theater Company brings you The Greatest Plays You’ve Never Seensuch as The Daughter-in-Law, Echoes of the War, Far and Wide and The Voysey Inheritance.

“THANK HEAVEN FOR A MAN WHO CAN STILL TELL A STORY!”

“THANK HEAVEN FOR A MAN WHO CAN STILL TELL A STORY!”

(The Times)

In 1967 nearly all of England was held inthrall by the BBC’s adaptation of JohnGalsworthy’s prose trilogy, The Forsyte Saga.Broadcast every Sunday night for sixmonths, the power of Galsworthy’s storygripped the nation like nothing ever before.When Forsyte was on the air, the streetswere deserted, pubs were closed, even theChurch of England rescheduled eveningservices so that people could be home intime to watch the epic creation of one of theworld’s master storytellers: John Galsworthy.

Who?

John Galsworthy, author of twenty novels,over one-hundred and fifty stories and twenty-seven plays. Recipient of the Order of Merit,England’s highest distinction for an artist,First President of International PEN, andwinner of the Nobel Prize for literature in1932.

Now Mint Theater brings you Galsworthy’sgripping drama, The Skin Game, in the fleshfor eight weeks only. The Skin Game is theever-timely story of a bare-knuckled brawlbetween neighbors. One man treasures theprecious view that his family has enjoyedfrom their windows for generations, and theother would block that view in the name ofeconomic development, progress and hisown social advancement. They fight a no-holds barred battle that will keep youenthralled to the very end.

“Thank heaven for a man who can still tell astory!” wrote The Times of London. “The longdeep silences of the audience, unbroken byany flutter of inattention, bear witness to the

brilliance of the play’s craftsmanship. Thisbattle between an old family and a new,between the Hillcrists and the Hornblowers,this poisoned feud between tradition andusurpation that grows beyond any man’sintention, bringing with it uncontrollableconsequences of suffering and dishonor, isone of Mr. Galsworthy’s most successfultreatments of a theme very near his heart.At the end of each act we are grateful forthat strangely rare thing in the theatre—astraight and full story told with austerity andjudgment.”

“Thank heaven fora man who canstill tell a story!”

The Skin Game came to New York in the fallof 1920 where it ran for 176 performances inspite of the play being “thrown hopelesslyout of focus,” according to AlexanderWoollcott of The New York Times, “by theinjudiciousness with which its company hasbeen chosen.” In 1931 the play was madeinto a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcockwho was also responsible for the adaptedscreenplay. “Mr. Hitchcock…cannot be saidto have accomplished either task in a fashionthe subject deserves,” said The Times,“Galsworthy’s estimable play…has beensapped of its persuasive drama.”

Galsworthy was the author of twenty-sevenplays, most of which were produced onBroadway and in London. Strife, Loyaltiesand Justice were among his most successfulworks. Justice is credited with havinginspired Winston Churchill, then England’sHome Secretary, to institute prison reformin England in 1910. “The seeds of reformwere sowed in his mind,” a report to TheNew York Times said, “through witnessingrecently a performance of John Galsworthy’sstirring prison drama Justice. Mr. Churchill,who was present at the second performance,sat through the play in a most absorbedmanner, his friends noticing that he wasdeeply affected by it.”

A wonderful testament to the power of agood story, well told. Please make plans tojoin us this summer, when Mint brings NewYork audiences the compelling power of agripping story: John Galsworthy’s The SkinGame.

John Galsworthy (1867-1933)(excerpted from The New York Times obituary, February 1st, 1933)

In 1893, while on a cruise in the SouthSeas, John Galsworthy, then a young lawyerwith a decided distaste for his profession,became acquainted with the first officer ofthe ship and the two became close friends.The mate was Joseph Conrad. He had written“Almayer’s Folly” and showed the manu-script to Mr. Galsworthy.

It is probable that Mr. Galsworthy had alsowritten a good deal at that time, and herevealed this to some extent many yearslater, when he said: “I was writing fiction forfive years before I could master even itsprimary technique.”

At the time of his meeting with Mr. Conrad,Mr. Galsworthy was traveling about theworld. He was a member of a very oldDevonshire family, and his father hadamassed considerable wealth in successfullegal practice in London. The man who waslater to create The Forsyte Saga was thusborn with a silver spoon in his mouth.

The traditional characteristics of his ownpeople, their conservatism and cult of propertywere to be recorded later in the Forsytebooks, but to begin with, Mr. Galsworthywrote sketchy stories under the nom deplume “John Sinjohn.”

Mr. Galsworthy’s mature works, both novelsand plays, are of unusual penetrative powers.What he did for the English drama was to liftit from the stilted and the artificial to thenatural…They have neither the whimsicalitiesof Sir James Barrie nor the eccentricities ofdialogue that distinguish George BernardShaw’s plays, but this very baring of thehuman soul which Galsworthy so wellachieved was a distinct addition to theEnglish drama.

By JOHN GALSWORTHY

311 W. 43RDSTREET 5THFLOOR

NEW YORK, NY 10036 www.minttheater.org

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