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Mum Puppettheatre's House Manager, Keith Canallen, takes the stage in Snowday's Production of Free Will & Wanton Lust

For Immediate Release: February 1, 2004

Free Will & Wanton Lust by Nicky Silver marks the first show for Snowday outside of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Snowday was formed in the summer of 2002 to produce Fat Men in Skirts by Nicky Silver. During the run of Fat Men in Skirts, Amy Gorbey (Wilma's Big Love and The Lantern's Speed the Plow) expressed an interest in writing a play about Molière for the company. Amy co-wrote and directed Molière: An Approximate Biography of an Historical Construct for the 2003 Fringe Festival. Charles MacMahon, artistic director at The Lantern Theater, joined the production to play the title role. Free Will & Wanton Lust is directed by Stephen A. Lance and will run February 11th – 29th, 2nd stage at The Adrienne.

Free Will & Wanton Lust is a fast paced, sharp edged dark comedy, which explores love, lust, sexuality, adultery and family. Free Will… is Nicky Silver's response to Noel Coward's The Vortex. Nicky Silver commented, "I read The Vortex by Noel Coward and was really fascinated by it. But I also felt that Mr. Coward was constrained by the morality of his time. How's that for presumption! I'd claim I was drunk but I don't drink. I can only claim I was young." Free Will… breaks free from any moral confinement and addresses various issues of sexuality that Noel Coward could not address in his writing or his own life. Free Will… is also a conflict of styles. The character of Claire is written with the elegant wit and sophistication of Noel Coward, while Philip is written in the stark and visceral style of Bertolt Brecht. The juxtaposition of these two styles creates a severe contrast, one that layers Philip's proletarian essence upon Claire's glamorous world. The last scene of Free Will…is a stylistic battle of dueling theatrical genres, as well as dueling characters.

Nicky Silver was raised on Philadelphia's Main Line, studied at NYU, and is currently one of the playwrights in residents at The Vineyard Theater in New York City. His plays pulsate with his unique queer aesthetic. Nicky Silver's work has been described as: "Mesmerizing", "Outrageous", "Weirdly Creative", and "Wonderfully Perverse". His plays include Pterodactyls (Oppenheimer Award, Kesselring Award, Drama Desk nomination, Outer Critic's Circle nomination), Raised in Captivity (Drama Desk nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination, Drama-Logue Award), The Food Chain (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Eros Trilogy, The Maiden's Prayer, The Altruist, Fat Men in Skirts, Fit to be Tied and Free Will & Wanton Lust (Helen Hayes Award). He also wrote the new book for the 2002 Broadway revival of the musical The Boys From Syracuse.

Free Will & Wanton Lust will run February 11th – 29th, Wednesday – Sunday, 2nd Stage at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. $15 dollar suggested donation. For information and reservations call: 215 – 563 – 4330

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