SPRING ‘08 PROGRAM NOTES

DIRECTOR’S NOTES...

            “Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”
                        W. Somerset Maugham
“The Runner Stumbles” is not classic theatre. It is too new, too infrequently presented, too limited in its appeal. But it embodies certain themes that always resonate, that seem to obsess me. Classic themes. What is more universally human, more compelling and ultimately more tragic than the tyranny of tradition. When society, family, religion and any institution can control, manipulate or deny basic human aspirations or needs, the results are abuse, psychic pain and even death.
            We present “The Runner Stumbles” as a well-made play with timely questions. But to interject a sense of unexpectedness, of altered perspective, we add an unsettling element of mood enhancing Expressionism. Just to keep you watching and wondering.

ABOUT THE PLAY....

“The Runner Stumbles” is a provocative drama based on an actual event.  It tells of an insular society, a repressed priest and an innocent optimistic nun. It tells of her murder, the reasons for  and the solving of that murder. It opened on Broadway in October 1976 and ran for more than two years. A movie version starring Dick Van Dyke as the troubled priest premiered in 1979. An Off-Broadway revival was produced in October of 2007.
            The play remains timely in its examination of the role of faith and religion in society, politics and modern culture. It underscores the tragedy that can result from unquestioned obedience to any doctrine or tradition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Milan Stitt is an American playwright and educator.  Born in Detroit Michigan in February 1941, he studied for the priesthood at Albion College before receiving his BA from the University of Michigan and MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
            As a writer he is best known for his play, The Runner Stumbles, named best Broadway Play of 1976 in the annual Best Plays book.  He has written teleplays and mini-series for all the networks.
His Long Shadows for American Playhouse was nominated in 1996 for an International Emmy as Best Teleplay. His articles on theatre and travel have appeared in the New York Times and Horizon Magazine.
            Mr. Stitt has worked as a producer and in various administrative capacities at American Shakespeare Festival, Long Wharf Theatre American Place Theatre and Circle Repertory Company -where he founded the play development program and served as a dramaturg for such writers as Bill C. Davis, Albert Innaurato, Arthur Kopit, David Mamet, Lanford Wilson and Paul Zindel. He served as Executive Director there for two years.
            For four years, he was chairman of the playwriting program at the Yale Drama School. He also taught dramatic writing at Princeton, University of Michigan and New York University.
            Milan Stitt is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild, Writers Guild of America, P.E.N., the Eugene O’Neill Society and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.