at the Montgomery County Cultural Center
208 Dekalb Street, Norristown
September 3-7 11-14 18-20 1997
Sponsored by Corestates Bank
Discount offered with dinner at the August Moon restaraunt
David Henry Hwang shares his vision of intimacy, loneliness, and sacrifice in these two gripping and beautiful one act plays.
The House of Sleeping Beauties tells the story of Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese Nobel laureate for literature. While researching a short story, he becomes enthralled by the mystery and magic of a house of sleeping beauties. He learns about love and life from the mistress of the house. He comes face to face with his fears and the loss of his youth. “One cannot stay long in this house and not fall in love.” 
Sound of a Voice pits a blustery, visceral samurai against a lonely woman who hopes only for the sound of a voice. The man is sent to kill a witch and finds a simple woman in need and a companion in a lonely world.
The simple beauty and profound themes of these two plays meld with Hwang’s intense dramatic style to make a dynamic and lovely night of theater.
For tickets or information call (610) 279-1013
Reviews:
"Director John Doyle skillfully invests the works with an airtight, portentous tone, but the casting has a lot to do with the fragile transport taking place - for Kate McLenigan and Tom Fagan, the sole players in both acts, are one of those matches made in acting heaven.
As a bonetired pensioner whose diminished dreams are just right for the small corner of the world he is given to occupy, Fagan gives a performance so evocative of geriatric dejection we can almost feel the arthritic joints along with him. McLenigan, alone and center stage, applies powder to her face in a scene that is so carefully choreographed and tautly manifested, it becomes a ballet of gentle self-empowerment."Gary Puleo
The Times Herald
"Fagan plays Kawabata with deep feeling, which surfaces most often in memory at first. He's an old man afraid of getting old, left behind if life by a wife and his close friend, Yukio Mishima, who committed suicide the year before.
Fagan has far more experience than McLenigan, whose understated demeanor as the mistress sometimes seems in danger of being overshadowed by Fagan's performance. That's more a function of the character's air of calm, however; when the calm breaks, McLenigan brings a wealth of emotion to the role, from rage at Kawabata to sorrow at her own past, to her haunting final scene.
Both plays are performed on an impressive stage, designed by Director John Doyle. The stage itself is stained hardwood, edged with vinelike twine. The sets are simple - straw sleeping mats and a tree, or a chest of small drawers in the corner during the first play. Their uncluttered look evokes the deceptively simple structure of a haiku. And like one of those tru-written poems, these one-acts stir unexpected emotion through what seems little effort."Rob Staeger
Arcade
"Both plays, performed by Kate Mclenigan and Tom Fagan, are moving and profound portrayals that cleverly deal with the universal problems of loneliness, growing old, and facing death."Walter G. Ault
Ticket
Special August MoonDiscount
Have dinner at the
August Moon Restaurant
300 E. Main Street in Norristown
(610) 277-4008
Bring your Check stub to the theatre and receive $2 off of a ticket to Sound of a Voice and The House of Sleeping Beauties.
The August Moon provides the finest in Korean and Japanese cuisine including Sushi.
The August Moon is located three blocks from the Cultural Center and a delicious Asian dinner would enhance the experience of these plays.
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