The Children's Hour
First Tennessee Bank Co-Producer
by Lillian Hellman, directed by George Quick
DeAnna Marie Prather, Stage Manager
Featuring: Caroline Anderle, Benna Curole, Cameron Davis, Isabel Dillard, Laura Maynard, Jamie McConnico, Ashley McCoy, K.J.Minchew, Tim Newland, Stefanie Oppenheimer, Kelly Pennell, Morgan Robbins, Rhea Thurman and Sophie Veys
CTC's 'The Children's Hour' a thought-provoking production
- Debbie Hale, Chattanooga Times Free Press April 19, 2013
April 12 through 28, 2013
Mildred M. Montague Circle Theatre
A hateful lie irrevocably tarnishes the reputation of the two women who run it, leading to the destruction of their lives. The highly successful first effort by New Orleans-born Lillian Hellman.
(concurrent with Chattanooga's SPARK Festival and the Celebration of Southern Literature)
"They have secrets or something, and they're afraid I'll find out and tell you." - Mary Tilford
Tickets $25 (other prices available at certain performances)
Thursday, April 18 - 7:00 pm curtain
with real-time captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing
Friday, April 19 - 8:00 pm curtain
Talk-back immediately following the performance
Saturday, April 20 - Staged reading of Bethany by Laura Marks at 5:30 - no performance of The Children's Hour
Sunday, April 21 - 2:30 pm curtain
Thursday, April 25 - 7:00 pm curtain
Friday, April 26 - 8:00 pm curtain
Brewer Media's "Girls' Night Out" pre-show reception with adult beverages and snacks at 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 27 - 8:00 pm curtain
Sunday, April 28 - 2:30 pm curtain - Final performance.
A controversial, ground-breaking classic that was technically illegal to perform and was banned in a number of major cities due to its subject matter when it first took to the stage in 1934: The Children's Hour, by Lillian Hellman, the Academy Award-nominated, two-time winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award & author of The Little Foxes, Another Part of the Forest, and Toys in the Attic. The Children's Hour is a powerful tale that centers on Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, two young women who have worked hard to build a girls' school in a refurbished farmhouse, which they run and teach. One of their pupils, Mary Tilford, a mischievous, disobedient and deceitful trouble-maker, runs away from school to the home of her grandmother, Amelia Tilford, the primary supporter of the school, and also grandmother to Karen's fiance, Joe Cardin, and begs her to allow her to stay with her and not return to the school. When Amelia refuses, Mary cleverly twists the details of an argument between Martha and her Aunt Lily into a scandalous lie and uses this gossip to try to convince her grandmother that the school is not an appropriate place for her. Mary's childish, but deviously clever attempt to get out of school, together with the community's willingness to believe and spread malicious gossip, may cause the closing the school, and the destruction of Karen and Joe's relationship, and Martha and Karen's lives...