FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2008

Lantern Theater Company's 2008/09 Season begins with the Philadelphia premiere of Harold Pinter's The Hothouse, September 12-October 12, 2008. Sinister and scathingly funny, this dark comedy unlocks the secrets of a state-run "rest home" where the staff is even more disturbed than the inmates. An early, prescient play from 2005's Nobel Prize winner, The Hothouse combines the razor-sharp dialogue, playful anarchy, and shocking twists that make Pinter one of the world's greatest living dramatists.

Kathryn MacMillan, Director of The Hothouse, says "Like some of Pinter's more famous works, The Hothouse owes a debt to the comedy of manners genre. Pinter ups the ante with characters who try very, very hard to be polite, when they actually want each other dead. The consequences of this tension are ridiculous, then lethal. The intimacy of the Lantern's space facilitates a full immersion into the playwright's bizarre, frightening world."

Written in 1958, and shelved for over 20 years before its first production, The Hothouse celebrates its 50th Anniversary with the Lantern's Philadelphia Premiere production. The Hothouse echoes a young Pinter's concerns with post-war British politics, Western responses to the Cold War enemy, and the suppression of individual freedoms to preserve the public order. On the heels of playwright Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, and his acceptance speech indicting the American and British governments, the Lantern's production draws new attention to political and human rights issues that are still as relevant as when the play was first written. Pinter's award-winning plays include The Birthday Party and Betrayal, which both received successful productions at the Lantern, and The Homecoming, 2008 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play.

Kathryn MacMillan, the Lantern's Literary Manager and director behind Lantern's popular and critical successes QED and The School for Wives, directs The Hothouse. The all-Philadelphia cast portraying the unsteady staff of Pinter's play includes some of the city's most celebrated performers, including Paul Nolan (2002 Barrymore nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Pinter's The Birthday Party at the Lantern) and Peter Pryor (2008 Barrymore nominee for Outstanding Leading Actor in Othello, 2007 winner for Outstanding Leading Actor in Richard III). Also in the cast are Kristyn Chouiniere (2004 Barrymore winner for Outstanding Ensemble in The Comedy of Errors at the Lantern), Mike Dees (2002 Barrymore winner for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical), John Morrison and Luigi Sottile (Othello, The School for Wives, The Lonesome West).

Strengthening the Lantern's commitment to Philadelphia artists, the creative team includes set designer Meghan Jones (Othello, The Lonesome West), costume designer Mark Mariani (2006 and 2003 Barrymore Nominee for Outstanding Costume Design), lighting designer Janet Embree, and sound designer Christopher Colucci (The School for Wives, 2008 Semi-Finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist).

The Hothouse begins previews on Friday, September 12, 2008 with an opening on Wednesday, September 17. The closing performance is scheduled for Sunday, October 12, 2008. Tickets are $20-$35, with discounts for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more. The Lantern is proud to introduce a new student rush program, $15 at :15, which provides up to 15 tickets to students with valid ID 15 minutes before the performance for just $15. For the 2008/09 Season, four-play subscription packages are available for $72-$160, with discounts for students and seniors.

Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the box office at 215.829.0395. All performances are held at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia, PA.

In Conversation: Audience Enrichment Series
This series offers audiences an insider's look at each show of the season from the Lantern's artistic team, joined by some of the finest humanities scholars on the East Coast.

Scholars: In Conversation
Monday, September 15 at 7pm
Admission: Pay What You Can
This season, our popular lecture series expands to a dynamic panel discussion format that brings together scholars from different backgrounds and disciplines to introduce the themes and issues surrounding each play.

Directors: In Conversation
Friday, September 19 at 7pm, before the 8pm performance
Free for all ticket holders to this production.
An informal pre-show conversation with Kathryn MacMillan, Lantern's Literary Manager and Director for The Hothouse, will give our audience a first-hand look into the rehearsal process.

Artists: In Conversation
Saturday, October 4, following the 2pm performance
Free for all ticket holders to this production
This post-show discussion focuses on the process of bringing scripts to the stage. The audience will have an opportunity to talk about the production they've just seen with the director, performers, and designers who created it.

Reviewing Press are invited to attend Opening Night of The Hothouse on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 7pm. Call 215.829.9002 x106 to reserve seats.

Other Press may arrange for tickets for the first week of production, September 17-21, by calling 215.829.9002 x106.

The Hothouse by Harold Pinter
Directed by Kathryn MacMillan

The Cast
Kristyn Chouiniere, Miss Cutts
Mike Dees, Lamb
John Morrison, Tubb/Lobb
Paul Nolan, Roote
Peter Pryor, Gibbs
Luigi Sottile, Lush

Designers
Meghan Jones, Set Designer
Mark Mariani, Costume Designer
Janet Embree, Lighting Designer
Christopher Colucci, Sound Designer
Marla Burkholder, Dialect Coach

Where
Lantern Theater Company
At St. Stephen's Theater
10th and Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia

When
September 12-October 12, 2008
Full schedule available at www.lanterntheater.org

Tickets
Single Tickets: $20-$35; discounts available for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more
By Phone: 215.829.0395
Online: www.lanterntheater.org
In Person: St Stephen's Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets
Box Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. One hour prior before curtain on performance days.

About The 2008/09 Season
After The Hothouse, Lantern Theater Company's 15th Anniversary season continues with The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol (November 21-December 28, 2008), Sizwe Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona (January 30-March 1, 2009), and Hamlet by William Shakespeare (April 3-May 10, 2009). The Lantern is also proud to welcome back by popular demand The Great Divorce based on the novel by C.S. Lewis, for a limited engagement run (December 28, 2008-January 4, 2009).

Four-play subscriptions are available for the 2008/09 season with packages ranging in price from $72-$160. Lantern Theater Company is pleased to offer the flexible A La Carte Subscription – a package of four tickets to be used in any combination for any play – for a limited time only until September 1, 2008 at $128 for adults, $120 for seniors and students. Single tickets for the 2007/08 season are $20-$35, with student, senior and group rates available. The Lantern is proud to introduce a new student rush program, $15 at :15, which provides up to 15 tickets to students with valid ID 15 minutes before the performance for just $15.

For tickets and information, please contact the Lantern Theater Company box office at 215.829.0395 or visit us online at www.lanterntheater.org.

About the Lantern
Founded in 1994 by Charles McMahon and Michael Brophy, Lantern Theater Company has emerged as one of the most successful professional theaters in the Philadelphia region. Lantern Theater Company is committed to an authentic and intimate exploration of the human spirit in its choice of classic, modern and original works.

The Lantern commits itself to being a vibrant, contributing member of its community. To that end, each season the Lantern produces four main stage productions, a variety of special events, and Illumination, the Barrymore nominated education program designed to engage local students and adults alike in the world of theater and nurture their own artistic expression. This program reaches the Greater Philadelphia area in four vital ways: outreach in area schools, matinee performances for students, training teaching artists for after school programs, and our audience enrichment series of lectures, discussions, and symposia for each production of our season.

Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City Philadelphia since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue. Since the inception of Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, the Lantern has received 10 awards and 46 nominations, including nominations in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for the Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award. Philadelphia Weekly named the Lantern Best Theatre Company for the 2007/08 Season, calling the company's selection of plays "impressively diverse in genre and style".

The 2008/09 season at Lantern Theater Company marks the company's 15th year of creating high-quality professional theater in Philadelphia.