Hampton Theatre Company Opens 'Heroes' Thursday
Next up for the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue is Heroes, Tom Stoppard’s translation of Gérald Sibleyras’ play about three World War I veterans who reminisce about their past and fantasize about their ultimate escape from a veterans home.
“Tom Stoppard won the Olivier Award when he brought it to London,” notes director Andrew Botsford, “He translated the play The Wind in the Poplars, which won a bunch of Molière nominations.”
The Molière Award is the national theater award of France—the equivalent of the Tonys.
“It’s a nice little play—three actors, one set,” Botsford says. For his cast of three, he chose Hampton Theatre Company veterans Tom Gustin, George A. Loizides and Cyrus Newitt. “It’s very, very funny, but it’s very touching,” he adds. “It’s about these guys facing their limitations.”
Botsford says the play is reminiscent of the works of Waiting for Godot scribe Samuel Beckett, and it also has a touch of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
“They complain about all the other loonies, and there’s an administrator we never see—a sort of Nurse Ratched figure,” Botsford says. “In Jaws, she’s the shark you never see.”
While Botsford previously directed a one-act for Hampton Theatre Company, this is his first time directing a full-length play for the theater troupe. He studied directing through the MFA in Theater and Film at Stony Brook Southampton and took master classes with Kathleen Marshall, Austin Pendleton and Tony Walton. He has also worked with high school and middle school students in directing for Stony Brook Southampton’s Young Artists and Writers Program at the campus.
To read an extended Q&A with Andrew Botsford, click here.
Heroes will be staged January 9 through 26 on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors excluding Saturday and $10 for students under 21. Purchase tickets at hamptontheatre.org. The box office is also open shortly before curtain at 125 Jessup Avenue, Quogue.
Four local libraries are offering dinner theater packages.
The Hampton Bays Public Library is offering a package on Friday, January 10. Dinner is at One North Steakhouse in Hampton Bays at 5 p.m. followed by the show at 7 p.m. The cost for the dinner (including tax and tip) and show is $48. To register, call 631-728-6241.
The Quogue Library is offering a package on Thursday, January 16. Dinner is at The Patio at 5 p.m. followed by the show at 7 p.m. The cost for dinner (including tax and tip) and show is $53. To register, call 631-653-4224 ext. 4.
The Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton and Westhampton Free Library in Westhampton Beach are offering a package on Friday, January 17. Dinner is at The Patio at 5 p.m. followed by the show at 7 p.m. The cost for dinner (including tax and tip) and show is $53. To reserve, mail a check for $53 per person to Hampton Theatre Company at PO Box 734, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978. Include name, address, phone number and email address.