The Savannah Disputation
- Written by Evan Smith
- Directed by Walter Bobbie
Previously at Playwrights Horizons: The Uneasy Chair and Psych. At The New Group: Servicemen. Regional: the Writer’s Theatre in Glencoe, IL, where The Savannah Disputation premiered in 2007, and 1812 Productions in Philadelphia, where Daughters of Genius premiered in 2006. Evan Smith’s TV pilot “Debs” was a part of Fox TV and Naked Angels Naked TV. He is the recipient of commissions from Lincoln Center Theater and Playwrights Horizons, and a Whiting Award. He graduated from the Yale School of Drama and lives in Savannah, Georgia. (As of February 2009)
Recently directed Irving Berlin’s White Christmas on Broadway; Christopher Durang’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo at the Roundabout; No, No Nanette at Encores!; and David Ives’s New Jerusalem at Classic Stage. His international hit Chicago won him the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards and has become the longestrunning revival in Broadway history. Other Broadway credits include High Fidelity, Sweet Charity, Twentieth Century, Footloose and A Grand Night for Singing. Mr. Bobbie has directed for the New York Shakespeare Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Sundance, The O’Neill Center and Goodspeed Opera House. He served as the Artistic Director of City Center’s Encores!, where he remains an Artistic Associate and a member of the Advisory Committee. Mr. Bobbie is on the Executive Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. (As of February 2009)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Resurrect this! When susceptible Catholic spinster Margaret politely admits door-to-door pentacostal missionary Melissa into her home, her seemingly-solid faith starts to waver – much to the chagrin of her feisty sister Mary. But who's the blasphemer and who's the believer? Before long, the God-fearing sisters have ambushed their steadfast “guest” with the aid of an unsuspecting local priest, setting the scene for a showdown of truly biblical proportions.
Featuring
Reed Birney
Marylouise Burke
Dana Ivey
Kellie Overbey
Has appeared at Playwrights Horizons eight times, most recently in Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation directed by Sam Gold. He was just in Tigers Be Still at Roundabout Underground. For the NewYork premiere of Sarah Kane’s Blasted at Soho Rep, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. He was Dr. Sweet in the original New York cast of Bug and played Tony Blair in Stuff Happens at The Public Theater. He has received three Obie Awards and a Drama Desk Award. On film, he can be seen in Changeling and the current Morning Glory with Harrison Ford, as well as Jeff Lipsky’s Twelve Thirty. In February he will be in David West Read’s The Dream of the Burning Boy at Roundabout Underground. (As of December 2010)
Playwrights Horizons: The Savannah Disputation (Lortel nomination) and Betty’s Summer Vacation. Broadway: The Coast of Utopia, Twentieth Century, “QED”, Judgment at Nuremberg, Present Laughter and Buried Child. Numerous Off-Broadway includes most recently Keen Company’s Lemon Sky. Notable film & TV: Sweet and Lowdown, Outbreak, “Unforgettable,” “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order,” “The Job” and “The Stand.” Also a writer, Kellie wrote the screenplay for the film That’s What She Said (directed by Carrie Preston) which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 and will be distributed by Phase 4 Films this fall. Plays: Girl Talk, Once Around the Sun and My Wife’s Coat (Samuel French). (As of May 2012)
Creative Team
John Lee Beatty
Scenic DesignerDavid C. Woolard
Costume DesignerKenneth Posner
Lighting DesignerTony Meola
Sound DesignerRobyn Henry
Production Stage Manager
Photos of (1) Kellie Overbey, Dana Ivey, Reed Birney, and Marylouise Burke; (2) Kellie Overbey, Marylouise Burke, and Dana Ivey; (3) Marylouise Burke and Dana Ivey; and (4) Dana Ivey, Reed Birney, and Marylouise Burke by Joan Marcus.
The glorious Dana Ivey is one of the marvels of New York theater. A veteran
character actor with five Tony nominations, the pleasure she provides playing Mary feels as sweet as new cream. The hilarious Marylouise Burke is adorably daffy. Directed with plenty of fizz by Walter Bobbie.
The Golden Girls with zingers! Devilish acting in a helluva play. This quartet is positively heavenly.
FOUR STARS. Finding a funnier foursome on another stage might be a mission impossible. It made me laugh my head off.
Evan Smith’s lively, tart-tongued comedy delivers!
