The American Legacy
Metropolitan Playhouse
The American Legacy

220 East Fourth Street ~ New York, New York 10009
Office: 212 995 8410 ~ Tickets: 212 995 5302

"One of my favorite downtown theaters" ~ Martin Denton, nytheatre.com
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Nathaniel
January 14 - 27, 2008
Hawthornucopia

The theater's third annual festival of performances inspired by an American author.  7 guest artists and companies celebrate the life and literature of the foremost explorer of American morality and wickedness, Nathaniel Hawthorne.
JOIN US FOR TWO SPECIAL EVENTS - EACH ONE NIGHT ONLY
Sunday, January 13th ~ 7:30 pm
Opening Reception and Reading of
Alex Roe's SALEM
More information

Saturday, January 19th ~ 8 pm
An Evening with Megan Marshall, Reading from
THE PEABODY SISTERS
More information


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Ticket Prices:
Each Gable is $18.00 General; $15 for Seniors; $12 full time students
or buy a
SALEM EXPRESS:
See any 4 performances for $50.00  Ask when you reserve, or at the box office!
 click here to request tickets

Hawthornucopia is currently scheduled to include the following projects.
Each of the seven gables runs between 1 and 1.5 hours.
Gable A
Tetherfop*
Books, Lyrics and Music by Michael Kosch
Choreographer Rachael Kosch
A folk fable told through music, dance, and verse,
inspired by Hawthorne's short story "Feathertop."  A poor boy, yearning for the heart of the preacher's daughter, gets help from the village seamstress, whom the preacher has condemned as a witch.

Gable B
The Scarlet Whale*
By Dan Evans
A Lulu Lolo Production
Old friends Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville await the arrival of Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond.  Before Henry makes it home, a runaway slave, a local scoundrel, and two bloodthirsty bounty hunters posit questions on the nature and vitality of evil in this lighthearted one-act comedy-drama.

The Birthmark
Adapded by Scott Barrow
A Stages on the Sound Production

Part Dr. Frankenstein, part Henry Higgins, a man of science pits himself against nature and God, in a misguided attempt to “perfect” his beloved bride.

Gable C
A Pearl of Great Price*
By Laura Livingston
Through the characters of Scarlet Letter, this short play probes the tender and conflicted relationships of mothers and daughters.  By the author of “The Purloined Detective” (Poefest 2006) and “Inconvenient River” (Twainathon 2007.)

Misty Phantoms*
By Anthony P. Pennino
A Global Dramatics Production
When Evelyn Stranton tries to share her love of Mr. Hawthorne’s works with two Native American friends, their misunderstanding has fatal consequences. Drawing on Hawthorne’s "Rappacini's Daughter", "Main-Street", "Young Goodman Brown”, and "The Duston Family", Anthony P. Pennino brings a new perspective to Hawthorne’s complex world.


Gable D
Rappacini's Daughter* and
The Future Mrs. Bullfrog*
By Robert Kornfeld after the Hawthorne short stories
The Poe-like horror story of a fixated father and the daughter he keeps in his secret garden paired with a whimsical tale of New England newlyweds find light and pithy treatment at the hands of esteemed dramatist, Robert Kornfeld.  With members of the Times Square Playwrights, directed by Tom Thornton.


The House of Celestial Experiments
By Jeremy X Halpern and Irving Gregory
In a theatrical chamber concert of Hawthorne text, an old woman, a servant, and a devilish boy clash and clash again, confined to a tiny stage, exchanging roles and changing identities in multiple variations of a scene that lead to a cacophonous, climactic finale.

Gable E
Making Light: The Found Letters of Hester Prynne
By Michael Bettencourt
Exiled from Boston, Hester Prynne writes to her daughter, Pearl, and through this epistolary piece of theater and dance, her wisdom and acceptance reveal the strength born of adversity.  With music by Elfin Vogel and Choreography by Nora Brown.

The Minister's Black Veil or Deacon Turnip: A Tragedy
Adapted by Amber Reed
An anti-theatrical desecration of Hawthorne's famous story about the consequences of a small-town minister's sartorial derring-do.  Performed by an all-star cast of grad students, office workers, and root vegetables.

Gable F
Little Edie and The Marble Faun*
Adapted by David Lally
Handyman Jerry Torre was referred to as "The Marble Faun" by Edith Bouvier Beale (best known for her reclusive life with her mother, Edith in the East Hampton mansion, "Grey Gardens".) Here is Hawthorne’s story, “The Marble Faun”, featuring Miriam and Donatello and how their lives parallel the lives of Big Edie, Little Edie and Jerry.

MerryMount
By Trav S. D.
A Mountebanks Production
Trav S.D. adapts Hawthorne's short story "The May-Pole of Merrymount", a true life 17th century American Bacchae, giving it an ironic new twist. Directed by alternative theater impresario, Ian W. Hill.

Gable G
A Twice Told Romance*
By Laura Livingston
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne are only the starters in this investigation of the luminaries of Concord, MA, and their intertwining lives.


* AEA Showcase presentations, approval pending