Welcome to
The Gate Theater Group
Northern Thailand's First English-language theater company
Coming To The Gate This Season
Driving Miss Daisy
THE STORY:
The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer’s patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. But, in a series of absorbing scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer to, and more dependent on, each other, until, eventually, they become almost a couple.
Slowly and steadily the dignified, good-natured Hoke breaks down the stern defenses of the ornery old lady, as she teaches him to read and write and, in a gesture of good will and shared concern, invites him to join her at a banquet in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. As the play ends Hoke has a final visit with Miss Daisy, now ninety-seven and confined to a nursing home, and while it is evident that a vestige of her fierce independence and sense of position still remain, it is also movingly clear that they have both come to realize they have more in common than they ever believed possible—and that times and circumstances would ever allow them to publicly admit.
Also winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play.
A long-running Off-Broadway success and an Academy Award-winning film.
“The play is sweet without being mawkish, ameliorative, without being sanctimonious.” — The New York Times.
“…a perfectly poised and shaped miniature on the odd-couple theme.” —New York Post.
“Playwrights Horizons has a winner in this one…gives off a warm glow of humane affirmation.” —Variety.
The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer’s patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. But, in a series of absorbing scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer to, and more dependent on, each other, until, eventually, they become almost a couple.
Slowly and steadily the dignified, good-natured Hoke breaks down the stern defenses of the ornery old lady, as she teaches him to read and write and, in a gesture of good will and shared concern, invites him to join her at a banquet in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. As the play ends Hoke has a final visit with Miss Daisy, now ninety-seven and confined to a nursing home, and while it is evident that a vestige of her fierce independence and sense of position still remain, it is also movingly clear that they have both come to realize they have more in common than they ever believed possible—and that times and circumstances would ever allow them to publicly admit.
Also winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play.
A long-running Off-Broadway success and an Academy Award-winning film.
“The play is sweet without being mawkish, ameliorative, without being sanctimonious.” — The New York Times.
“…a perfectly poised and shaped miniature on the odd-couple theme.” —New York Post.
“Playwrights Horizons has a winner in this one…gives off a warm glow of humane affirmation.” —Variety.
Shrapnel in the Heart Nov, 8-9
Shrapnel in the Heart a Resounding Success!
A Review by Roy Mark
Theater goers expect their experience to begin as the curtain goes up. When The Gate Theater presented its matinee-only performance of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART on Memorial Day Weekend, the adventure started in the theater’s foyer. Displays of Vietnam War-era memorabilia and photographs gave the guests a glimpse into the history of what they were about to experience. Chiang Mai’s VFW Post 12074 War Veterans supplied many of the items. The displays continued throughout the walk through the long hallway to the theater.
Even before the actors took to the stage, the audience gazed at objects at the base of the Play’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument. Some knew the significance of the artifacts, flowers, U.S. Flags, letters, rifles, books, and other memorabilia on display. Those that didn’t were in for an emotional education.
The play, directed by Claire Gordon, was based on Laura Palmer’s book SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART: Letters and Remembrances from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The play opened with cast members milling around the Memorial Wall, touching the engraved names of their loved ones. An Army Colonel in his VFW uniform then approaches the U.S. Flag, salutes, and sets the mood of the play by saying, “The peace of this memorial belies the terrible hell of mud and fire where you fell.”
The Opening Scene of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART
The eleven cast members then began telling their stories of husbands, sons, and buddies that answered their country’s call and traveled halfway around the world to fight in an unpopular war. They mourned their loss by reading letters written to those they loved; letters that could only be read by the mournful before placing the letter tenderly, reflectively at the base of the Memorial Wall below an inscribed name that represented a future lost. The reading of the letters, the citing of memories, and the tender conversations with spirits that seemed to be living within the memorial’s wall were delivered so powerfully by the cast that few in the audience were not touched.
Singling out a few of the performers for praise is difficult since their emotional portrayal of grieving family and friends of America’s fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen were all delivered with sincerity; they felt the pain of the persons that wrote those letters and the audience responded with more than a few tears. The musical talents of Vinimay Kaul and Thomas Lane added to the performance. Vinimay played the keyboard and sang throughout the play. Lane played guitar and delivered a rendition of the song Point Man before talking to a buddy, whose spirit lives forever young within the somber black granite stone that is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
The Gate Theater’s founder and managing director, Stephan Turner, was the inspiration behind SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART.
Director Claire Gordon tied otherwise unrelated letters together to tell an emotional story. “People need to hear these stories,” she said, “Because it’s not over, the impact is forever!” The phrase “All gave some; some gave all” is associated with the men and women that fought in the Vietnam War. Five Thumbs Up to Turner, Gordon, and the cast of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART for honoring the memory of just a few that gave their all.
A Review by Roy Mark
Theater goers expect their experience to begin as the curtain goes up. When The Gate Theater presented its matinee-only performance of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART on Memorial Day Weekend, the adventure started in the theater’s foyer. Displays of Vietnam War-era memorabilia and photographs gave the guests a glimpse into the history of what they were about to experience. Chiang Mai’s VFW Post 12074 War Veterans supplied many of the items. The displays continued throughout the walk through the long hallway to the theater.
Even before the actors took to the stage, the audience gazed at objects at the base of the Play’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument. Some knew the significance of the artifacts, flowers, U.S. Flags, letters, rifles, books, and other memorabilia on display. Those that didn’t were in for an emotional education.
The play, directed by Claire Gordon, was based on Laura Palmer’s book SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART: Letters and Remembrances from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The play opened with cast members milling around the Memorial Wall, touching the engraved names of their loved ones. An Army Colonel in his VFW uniform then approaches the U.S. Flag, salutes, and sets the mood of the play by saying, “The peace of this memorial belies the terrible hell of mud and fire where you fell.”
The Opening Scene of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART
The eleven cast members then began telling their stories of husbands, sons, and buddies that answered their country’s call and traveled halfway around the world to fight in an unpopular war. They mourned their loss by reading letters written to those they loved; letters that could only be read by the mournful before placing the letter tenderly, reflectively at the base of the Memorial Wall below an inscribed name that represented a future lost. The reading of the letters, the citing of memories, and the tender conversations with spirits that seemed to be living within the memorial’s wall were delivered so powerfully by the cast that few in the audience were not touched.
Singling out a few of the performers for praise is difficult since their emotional portrayal of grieving family and friends of America’s fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen were all delivered with sincerity; they felt the pain of the persons that wrote those letters and the audience responded with more than a few tears. The musical talents of Vinimay Kaul and Thomas Lane added to the performance. Vinimay played the keyboard and sang throughout the play. Lane played guitar and delivered a rendition of the song Point Man before talking to a buddy, whose spirit lives forever young within the somber black granite stone that is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
The Gate Theater’s founder and managing director, Stephan Turner, was the inspiration behind SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART.
Director Claire Gordon tied otherwise unrelated letters together to tell an emotional story. “People need to hear these stories,” she said, “Because it’s not over, the impact is forever!” The phrase “All gave some; some gave all” is associated with the men and women that fought in the Vietnam War. Five Thumbs Up to Turner, Gordon, and the cast of SHRAPNEL IN THE HEART for honoring the memory of just a few that gave their all.
Back By Popular Demand
Hangman by
A.W. Richardson Esq
Mary Beth Langmeyer is charged with first-degree murder after she shoots her husband while he sleeps. She claims he had been physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage, and that she feared for her life if she reported it. The case becomes a battle of personalities between the district attorney and the defense attorney as they stretch the limits of civility and flirt with contempt charges. The jury of five women and one man deliberate, ultimately finding themselves deadlocked. In the end, the audience votes as to whether the lone male juror will hold out, thus "hanging" the jury.
See reviews and photos from Hangman here http://www.gate-theater.com/past-shows.html
Hangman by
A.W. Richardson Esq
Mary Beth Langmeyer is charged with first-degree murder after she shoots her husband while he sleeps. She claims he had been physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage, and that she feared for her life if she reported it. The case becomes a battle of personalities between the district attorney and the defense attorney as they stretch the limits of civility and flirt with contempt charges. The jury of five women and one man deliberate, ultimately finding themselves deadlocked. In the end, the audience votes as to whether the lone male juror will hold out, thus "hanging" the jury.
See reviews and photos from Hangman here http://www.gate-theater.com/past-shows.html
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