by Brian Richard Mori
Directed by Lane Richins 
Performances February 27 – March 14, 2015

Grudges never heal. 
“Every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’ “- Mary McCarthy about Lillian Hellman. Hellman v. McCarthy pits the two literary lionesses against each other in a dramatic reenactment of the $1 million slander lawsuit Hellman brought against Mary McCarthy. The suit wasn’t settled until Hellman’s death in 1984. Dick Cavett is the casual commentator in this witty and revealing dark comedy. Both Hellman and McCarthy thrived in a man’s world, but not by being kinder or gentler. 

Featuring

Cast

Reb Flemming – Lillian Hellman
Long ago and far away Reb Fleming and the lovely Miss Nancy Roth dreamed of a theatre company that would present theatre from a decidedly female point of view.  That dream gave birth to PYGmalion.  Ms. Roth took the helm as producer and Reb as artistic director and history is still in the making.  Reb has acted and directed for this company she loves in productions including: Gin Game, Blithe Spirit, Cakewalk, Beyond Therapy, House of Blue Leaves, Living Out, Knowing Cairo, Bus Stop and Sordid Lives.  She also taught Voice and Speech for the Actor, Acting I and II, and treasures each memory of every student she has ever worked with.

Barb Gandy – Mary McCarthy
Researching Mary McCarthy has been very interesting for Barb and she is delighted to bring her to life in Hellman v McCarthy.  To work with long-time friends, especially Reb, magnifies her delight.  Barb’s first PYGmalion show was The Food Chain, in 2002.  Other favorite PYGmalion performances include;  Beyond Therapy, Knowing Cairo, Sordid Lives, Motherhood Out Loud and many others.  Barb would like to give a shout-out  and thank you to Gina Walker (who designed and crafted the wig).

Allen Smith – Dick Cavett 
Allen Smith has enjoyed performing in Race and The Waiters (Good Company Theatre); August: Osage County, The Pavilion, and 33 Variations (Silver Summit); Reefer Madness andAssassins (Dark Horse); Bash (Holladay Arts); and many productions with the Treehouse Troupe at the Treehouse Children’s Museum in Ogden. Allen has a BA in Theatre Education from WSU and loves spending his days teaching some of the best students in the world.

Jeffery Owen – Lester Marshall
Jeffrey is thrilled to be back on the boards with Pygmalion Theatre. He has appeared in previous PYGmalion productions including; GW Nethercott in Sordid Lives, Detective Cole in Stop Kiss, and Capt. Mike in Wonderof the World. Jeffery has been part of the Salt Lake theatre community for over 30 years, recently appearing as Karl in Grace (Utah Repertory, Around the Globe), Ralph Steadman in Steadman and Walker, Zombie LLC (The Hive Theatre), Carmichael in A Behanding in Spokane (The Hive Theatre) and Mr. McAdam in Screwtape (Silver Summit Theatre Company). Jeffery is also Co-producer and Co-artistic Director of Salt Lake City Radio Players, directing their debut productions of The Martian Chronicles and Mars is Heaven and now preparing for their upcoming production of The Thin Man this April. Jeffery is a graduate of the Actor Training Program and has a BFA from the University of Utah.

Jeremy W. Chase – Burt Fielding
Jeremy is honored to be making his Pygmalion Productions debut, and working with such a wonderful, talented group of theatre artists. Previous SLC credits include The Sunshine Boys (Pinnacle Acting Company), Burn This, 2 Across and The Turn of the Screw  (Utah Theatre Artists Company). More recently, he’s enjoyed being involved in staged readings of works organized by Pygmalion and The Hive Theatre Company. He is also a member of the recently formed Salt City Radio Players. Any time on stage would not be possible without the love and support of his wife, Nova.

William Robert David Richardson – Ryan Hobbs
William is delighted to mark his first PYGmalion Production! He was very pleased this past fall and winter to play Professor in South Pacific at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in New York. Recent Utah credits include Mike in A Chorus Line, Karpathy in My Fair Lady (Park City’s Egyptian) and Freywaru in a new adaptation of Beowulf (Meat & Potato). Other regional appearances include Utah Theatre Artists, Dark Horse Company Theatre, Big Country Dinner Theatre (Texas), The Grand Theatre, Old Lyric Repertory, Salt Lake Acting Company and Pioneer Theatre. William also directs, choreographs and stage manages, sometimes teaches and sometimes just holds down the couch. William is an Equity Membership Candidate and proud alum of Weber State University, B.A. Musical Theatre.

Production Team

Lane Richins – Director
Lane has been participating in theatre throughout Utah for more than a dozen years in various capacities. Lane has acted with several companies, including Pygmalion Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, Plan B, The Grand Theatre, Wasatch Theatre Company, and others. Currently, he sits on the board of Pygmalion Theatre Company.  Previously, as Artistic Director for Utah Theatre Artists Company, Lane directed the critical hits Burn This, The Turn of the Screw, I Ought to be in Pictures, and others.  More recently, Lane has directed The Sunshine Boys for Pinnacle Acting Company, Chapter Two for Wasatch Theatre Company, Seven for Pygmalion Productions, which was nominated for the 2012 City Weekly Arty for Best Production, and co-directed A Night With the Family with Laurie Mecham for Pygmalion. He has also directed Greater Tuna for Vive Les Arts Theatre in Killeen, Texas, and was at the helm when The Mysterious, Happy Life of Brown Bag won Best Production and Best Play at the Wasatch Theatre Company Page-to-Stage festival, 2010.

Jennie Pett – Stage Manager
Jennie has always been an avid theatre go-er, but has only recently started to worked behind the scenes. She madee her first foray into stage management with Pygmalion last year on Motherhood Out Loud. Jennie is thrilled to be part of creating a compelling & beautiful performances.

Mikal Troy Klee – SoundScape Design
Since 1998 Troy has created SoundScapes for PYGmalion Theatre Company as resident sound designer. He has also worked with The Classical Greek Theatre Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, The Hive Theatre Company, Wasatch Theatre Company, Utah Rep Theatre Company, Around The Globe Theatre Company, Dark Horse Company Theatre and Pinnacle Acting Company. Production designs include, Spark, The Women of Lockerbie, Antigone, August: Osage County, Grace, A Behanding in Spokane, The Passion of Sister Dottie S. Dixon, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), The Coming Ice Age, Dottie: The Sister Lives On, The Lion in Winter, Six Degrees of Seperation, True West, and 33 Variations. 

Thomas George – Scenic Design
Thomas is an Adjunct Professor of Theatre at the University of Utah. He holds an MFA from U.C. San Diego, and a BFA from the University of Utah. His previous designs for PYGmalion Productions include Motherhood Outloud and Spark. Guest designs for the U of U include A Flea In Her Ear, The Adding Machine, and Reasons To Be Pretty. Other notable productions include Hamlet for the Brooklyn Gallery Players, You Are Here at the Gene Frankel Theatre in New York, The New Voices Playwrights Festival for the New School of Drama, The Misanthrope at the Mandel Weiss Forum Theatre, and As You Like It for the Potiker Theatre at UC San Diego.

Michael Nielsen – Costume Design
Michael is pleased to join PYGmalion Theater Company for his fourth production. Past PYG credits include, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), Cheat and The Women of Lockerbie. Michael returned to Utah after 25 years in “Hollywood” as a Costume Designer for TV and movies, actor, and theatrical producer.  He now designs, performs and directs for his first love, the theatre- where it is about the art and not the money.