4/23 Tuesday. Warm sunny. First night performance of Ten Chimneys by Jeffrey Hatcher at Artists Repertory Theatre. Very much enjoyable. Good acting. Decent stage set in an intimate 180° theatre. A very entertaining story based on Broadway couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, their colleagues Uta Hagen and Sydney Greenstreet, centered around a rehearsal of Chekhov's The Seagull in Lunt's summer estate 10 Chimneys. Quirky remarks, acting tips are a plus. The playwright's love of theatre is contagious. However, the dominating mother, the gambling brother, the discontent sister took too much share of the play, which can be better used to dig deeper into Hagen and Greensteet. The last appearance of Hagen seems a bit out of place. Her monologue of how she found her way to Nina's mind is nice, but is delivered out of context. I was hoping for some more insight when she spoke with Fontanne at the end of the play. Overall, I appreciate Hatcher and Artists Rep introducing me to these fascinating people.
A little shy of 100 people today attending the performance.
