Tags
Abyss Stage, Cross Creek, Ellen Wacher, Invasion of Privacy, Jules Pisano, Kate Walton, Kerry Sensenbach, Kevin Reilley, Larry Parr, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Missy McArdle, Pepper Thompson, Peter J. Loewy, Pigs Do Fly Productions, Todd Caster, Wilton Manors Theatre
Pigs Do Fly Productions
presents
September 9 – 25
(Preview performance September 8)
“Larry Parr has a flair for sassy humor and for focusing his story on the main issues.” Sarasota Herald Tribune
August 10, 2016
WILTON MANORS, FL: In 1943 Zelma Cason filed a ground-breaking lawsuit against Pulitzer Prize-winning author (The Yearling) Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Cason claimed Rawlings had invaded her ‘right to privacy’ in the author’s recently published book, Cross Creek. The suit – the first of its kind ever filed in Florida – used ‘the right of privacy defense’. At that time the state didn’t even recognize the existence of that right.
Pigs Do Fly Productions will present the South Florida premiere of Larry Parr’s award-winning play, Invasion of Privacy – the playwright’s fascinating examination of the events leading up to and including the trial that had the entire country focused on one small Florida town. The production will run from September 9th through September 25th at The Abyss Stage in Wilton Manors. There will be a preview performance on September 8th.
“Invasion of Privacy is our first foray into a full length play,” says Pigs Do Fly Productions Executive Producer Ellen Wacher. “This one is awesome – it’s based on a real case and trial in 1940’s Florida. It has great characters; it’s topical and funny, yet it deals with very serious issues. And it fits perfectly within Pigs Do Fly’s mission – showing the impact people over 50 can have on all our lives.”
Larry Parr
“I always loved Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ rich and poetic writings about Florida and the Floridians who made their lives from the bounty of the land,” playwright Larry Parr explains. “I became fascinated by the lawsuit brought against her after the publication of her book, Cross Creek, for Invasion of Privacy – the first of its kind brought against an author. It played out against the backdrop of early Florida and involved the very people she wrote about, and it involves an issue that is very much in the news yet today – Freedom of Speech versus Right to Privacy.”
The landmark case began when Cason, one of Rawlings’ closest friends took issue with the author’s description of her in Cross Creek as “…an ageless spinster resembling an angry and efficient canary. She manages her orange grove and as much of the village and country as needs management or will submit to it. I cannot decide whether she should have been a man or a mother …” An additional real-life dramatic element was added to the mix in that Cason was represented by Kate Walton – one of Florida’s first female lawyers – in a time when women were not even allowed to serve on juries in Florida.
Invasion of Privacy will be directed by Peter J. Loewy, whose production of The Rothschilds will open at Stage Door Theatre on September 2nd; his recent production of Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together received excellent reviews when it played at Stage Door in May. He has directed numerous productions in South Florida, as well as at his own Forum Theatre, in Metuchen, New Jersey.
Loewy has selected a talented cast for Invasion of Privacy: Eight-time Carbonell nominee Missy McArdle will play Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Carbonell nominee Kevin Reilley will play her husband, Norton Baskin. Also cast are Pepper Thompson as Zelma Cason, Todd Caster as lawyer Sigsbee Scruggs, Jules Pisano as lawyer Kate Walton, and Kerry Sensenbach as Judge John Murphree.
Tickets for Invasion of Privacy are $35 and are available on line at www.pigsdoflyproductions.com, or by calling 866-811-4111. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 pm, and on Sunday at 5 pm. All performances will take place at The Abyss Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
For more information about Pigs Do Fly Productions, please visit www.pigsdoflyproductions.com. For more information about Ellen Wacher, please visit www.ellenwacher.com. To set up interviews, or for photos, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.
~*~
Pigs Do Fly Productions
presents
Invasion of Privacy
By Larry Parr
September 9 – September 25 (Preview Performance – September 8)
Tickets: $35
Tickets: 866-811-4111 / www.pigsdoflyproductions.com
Performances:
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday: 8 pm
Sunday: 5 pm
All performances will take place at
The Abyss Stage
2304 N. Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
www.infinite-abyss.org
Larry Parr (Playwright) Hundreds of regional productions. Hi-Hat Hattie Kansas City’s Drama Desk Best Musical, Florida Individual Artist Recipient, American Cinema Foundation; My Castle’s Rockin’ Sart ScriptFest, National Black Theatre Festival;Invasion Of Privacy 1999 Gold Coast Players best-play award, Playwrights First Award in Manhattan, Ashland New Play Festival, Theatre Conspiracy’s New Play Competition, Florida Individual Artist Recipient, Dezart Performs Audience Favorite; Sundew Sart Scriptfest; His Eye Is On The Sparrow Florida Individual Artist Recipient, Sarasota County Arts Council’s Fellowship, Dayton Best Overall Production; Shunned Sart’s ScriptFest, Utah Shakespeare Festival, New American Playwrights Project. 2000, 2010 Barbara Anton Playwriting Award. STAGES ’93, the 1994 Porter Fleming Playwriting Competition, The Arion Award For Music Excellence, Civic Recognition Award, Broome Agency’s Best-Novel Award. www.larryparr.info
Awards for Invasion of Privacy:
State of Florida Individual Artist’s Fellowship Award
Gold Coast Players Best Play Award
The National Arts Club’s Playwrights First Award in Manhattan
Ashland, Oregon New Play Festival
Theatre Conspiracy New Play Award
Dezart Performs Audience Favorite, Palm Springs, California
Carol Kassie 