Moonlight and Magnolias
Thu 27 Sep 2007 – Sat 3 Nov 2007
27 September-03 November 2007
MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS
Ron Hutchinson
Director Sean Holmes
Designer Francis O’Connor
Lighting Designer Davy Cunningham
Sound by Carolyn Downing
Cast includes Duncan Bell, Josephine Butler, Andy Nyman, Steven Pacey
**** “The best stage play about Hollywood since Mamet’s Speed the Plow…and its far funnier” The Times
**** “…snappy script…a fast-paced screwball comedy…” Evening Standard
“Hutchinson’s script displays the smart, old-fashioned wit of a 1940s screwball comedy…it celebrates the romance and creativity of the movies and the pain of making them.” The Guardian
“**** A joyous tribute to the screwball comedies of the past” Time Out
**** “A seriously hilarious comedy…whiplash dialogue combined with the mad-intelligent humour of the best American comedies.” Sunday Times
“Delightful screwball comedy…that is certainly worth giving a dam about. Terrific stuff!” Telegraph
Financial Times review
“Making a drama out of a crisis” Guardian arts blog
“…the comic performances of the year.” Reviewsgate
“…an amusing take on three men busting their blocks over one of the original Hollywood blockbusters.” Daily Mail
Andy Nyman on the Jenny Eclair show on LBC Radio.
In praise of Ben Hecht – Ron Hutchinson discusses one of the inspirational characters behind his play in the Jewish Chronicle.
‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ shows a film fuelled by peanuts and bananas by Ron Hutchinson, Daily Telegraph, 22 Sept 2007
Movie mogul David O. Selznick has just shut down production of Gone With The Wind. Determined to rewrite the script, he engages the reluctant services of “script doctor” Ben Hecht, who has never read the book, and director Victor Fleming, poached straight from the set of The Wizard of Oz.
His reputation on the line, and with nothing but a stockpile of peanuts and bananas, Selznick locks the three men into his office and a marathon creative session begins…
Funny and moving – an insight into 30’s Hollywood and an epic of laughter.