“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” is Terrence McNally’s two-character play that follows an unlikely romance between a waitress and a short-order cook who debate whether to take a chance on love during a one-night stand.
First produced Off Broadway in 1987, a new production directed by Marcia Haufrecht and starring Sayra Player and Edward Kassar will open a two-week engagement on Wednesday at the Clubhouse in East Hampton.
In his review of the original production in The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote, “In ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,’ the playwright examines his characters’ connections with a new forthrightness and maturity, and it’s just possible that, in the process, he’s written the most serious play yet about intimacy in the age of AIDS.”
Mr. Kassar is familiar to audiences on the South Fork and beyond, having appeared in productions at Guild Hall, the Hampton Theatre Company, the Ensemble Studio Theater in Manhattan, and, most recently, in “The Pillowman” at LTV Studios in Wainscott.
“Frankie” is “a bittersweet comedy that combines poignancy and laughter as it follows the unlikely romance that begins to develop between two middle-aged losers,” said Mr. Kassar. “We can all relate to the two characters as they verbally duel to flush out who they really are.”
Ms. Player, a lifetime member of the Actors Studio who has appeared in “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order,” and the upcoming “Gringo Hunters,” said she took on the project because “it’s a celebration of the strength found in vulnerability and the joy that comes from authentic connections.”
An actress, playwright, and director, Ms. Haufrecht has worked as a director on both revivals and original plays at Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Actors Studio, the Common Basis Theatre, and in Australia, Portugal, and Austria. Of Ms. Player and Mr. Kassar, who starred in her recently completed short film “Family,” she said, “I loved working with them then, and I’m loving working with them now.”
Performances will take place Wednesday and next Thursday at 7 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 27, at 8, Oct. 2 and 3 at 7, and Oct. 4 at 8. Tickets are $28.52 and available from Eventbrite.
