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January 30, 2008

"Lillian Hellman was always best with vile characters, and she never produced a viler crew than the Hubbard family…" —New York Times

Stage Centre Productions presents
Lillian Hellman’s classic

The Little Foxes
By Lillian Hellman
Directed and Designed by L. Garth Allen
Featuring Brad Emes, Judy Gans, Edward Karek, Frank Keenan, James Marshall, Varda Shomrony, Sara VanBuskirk, & Alan Washbrook

TORONTO, ON…TORONTO, ON…Stage Centre Productions is pleased to continue its 31st season with the classic American play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman.

From its first performance on Broadway nearly sixty years ago, Lillian Hellman's tale of a Southern family torn apart by their ruthless ambitions is as relevant today as the day it was written. Set in the genteel American South, The Little Foxes is a sizzling look into the lies and lives of the Hubbard family. When their scheme to bring the family great fortune runs short of cash, the Hubbards will do anything to keep their dream alive and "in the family." In a world of insatiable greed, sibling rivalry, marriages of convenience and daily deception, these Southern foxes epitomize the danger of a society ruled by excess. This stirring tale of family hatred and greed was partly based on Lillian Hellman’s own experiences in the American south.

Some of American’s finest actresses have portrayed the Hubbard matriarch — the scheming Regina — including Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead.

Dramatist, screenwriter, political heroine and best-selling authour, Lillian Hellman's legacy continues to fascinate. Known for the raw emotional power of her characters and her own boldness of spirit, Hellman despised the title of "woman playwright" and has rightfully earned her place as one of the greatest American playwrights of the twentieth century. She has been called a "second Ibsen" or "the American Strindberg."

Joining director/designer L. Garth Allen are repertory company members Brad Emes as Leo Hubbard, Judy Gans as Regina Giddens, Edward Karek as William Marshall, James Marshall as Benjamin Hubbard, Varda Shomrony as Birdie Hubbard, Frank Keenan as Oscar Hubbard, Sara VanBuskirk as Alexandra Giddens and Alan Washbrook as Horace Giddens.

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Lillian Florence Hellman was born in New Orleans on June 20, 1905. At the age of five, she moved with her family to New York and half of every following year for most of her childhood was spent respectively in New York and in Louisiana at a boarding house run by her aunts. Although she never earned a degree, she studied at New York University and Columbia University between 1922 and 1924.

Her writing career began in 1925 when she was hired as a book reviewer by the New York Herald Tribune. She traveled to Hollywood where some of her early short stories were published.

The Children's Hour (1934), a play about the power of a lie, was her first great triumph as a playwright. The Little Foxes (1939) was another. Hellman was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award: in 1957 as author of the book of Best Musical nominee Candide and in 1960 as author of Best Play nominee Toys in the Attic. She was the first woman ever nominated for an Academy Award for a screenplay: The Little Foxes in 1941 and again in 1943 for The North Star.

During the 1930s, Hellman did become involved in both liberal and leftist organizations. In 1952 she was called upon to appear before the House of Un-Amercian Activities Committee and refused to reveal the names of associates who might have been communists. She was subsequently blacklisted from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Hellman did at the age of 79 on June 30, 1984.

Stage Centre Productions, under the founding artistic leadership of L. Garth Allen, is a 60-person strong repertory company of Toronto area artists committed to presenting the classics from the world theatrical canon.

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Upcoming at Stage Centre Productions

May 1-17:An Italian Straw Hat A Musical Farce by Eugene Labiche, Marc-Michael, translated by Lynn and Theodore Hoffman

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Stage Centre Productions is a full repertory theatre company dedicated and devoted to presenting a wide cross-section of the classics of theatre history. Stage Centre has performed at the Fairview Library Theatre for thirty seasons and is now performing their thirty-first season, which opened on September 27, 2007. Each season, five plays that are tried and true literary classics are performed under the artistic direction of L. Garth Allen. The company constructs all of the sets, costumes, wigs and properties required for each production at our rehearsal workshop.

For more information about Stage Centre Productions check out their website at www.stagecentreproductions.com.

For further media information and artist interviews please contact Kim Blackwell at 416-346-4709, 416-686-0982 or blackwellcommunications@gmail.com.