For Immediate Release: January 5, 2006
Media Contact: Amy Watson Bish, Delaware Theatre Company, 302.594.1104 x228

Delaware Theatre Company’s series of audience enrichment events, Connections: A Community Conversation, begins Saturday, February 4, 2006 with a look at the life and work of Arthur Miller. “Arthur Miller: A Retrospective” will be an open forum moderated by a team of Miller experts—Gerald Freedman, an Obie-Award winning director and pioneer of Off-Broadway and regional theatre, and Dr. Steven Centola, a preeminent Miller scholar. Actors from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) will illuminate Freedman’s and Centola’s comments with readings from Miller’s plays and essays. The event is free and open to the public and is partly funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information call 302.594.1100.

Arthur Miller’s death at the age of 89 in February 2005 robbed the American theatre of one of its most passionate practitioners and powerful voices. This Connections event will be held in conjunction with DTC’s production of Arthur Miller’s searing family drama The Price and aims to consider Miller’s impact as a dramatist, novelist, political figure, and pop culture icon. Freedman and Centola will place Miller’s work in their appropriate historic and literary contexts. PTTP actors will read scenes from such Miller masterpieces as Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons, After the Fall, and others.

Gerald Freedman and Dr. Steven Centola are perfectly paired to provide insight into the life and times of Arthur Miller. Freedman is a theatre legend regarded nationally for his productions of classic drama, musicals, operas, and new plays. He served as leading director of Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival from 1960–1971 and made theatre history with his Off-Broadway premiere of the landmark rock musical Hair, which opened the Public Theater in 1967. He was Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1985–1997, and was the first American director invited to direct at the Globe Theatre in London, England. His relationship with Arthur Miller includes directing the premiere of Miller’s The Creation of the World and Other Business, a revival of The Crucible at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company, and Death of a Salesman starring Hal Holbrook. He currently serves as chair of the drama department at North Carolina School of the Arts.

Dr. Steven Centola is described by the Arthur Miller Society as one of the four top Miller scholars in the world. Centola had a personal and professional friendship with Miller spanning over twenty years. He has edited four books regarding Miller, including collaborating with Miller on two books of Miller essays, Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays 194–-2000 and The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller. Two additional books of Centola’s on Miller are in the process of being published. Centola has also published countless articles on Miller and has interviewed Miller several times over the years.

“Arthur Miller: A Retrospective” will take place at Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water Street in Wilmington. The event will follow the 2pm matinee performance on Saturday, February 4, 2006, beginning at approximately 4:30pm. Admission to all Connections events is free. For more information, please call 302.594.1100.

Connections: A Community Conversation is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Delaware Theatre Company’s 2005-2006 season is sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. Corporate Co-Producer for The Price is Legg Mason Investment Counsel. Artist transportation provided by Amtrak. This program is made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware. The Delaware Division of the Arts provides technical and financial assistance to artists and arts programs and serves as a clearinghouse for information on the arts.

The Price is produced through special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware's premier professional theatre, is located at 200 Water Street, on Wilmington’s exciting Riverfront. Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, the Arts Consortium of Delaware, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, and the Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Go to News Releases»