Newport’s Falcon Theatre opens the 2021-22 season on September 24 with Todd Kreidler’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Directed by Piper N. Davis and based on the popular, award-winning movie from 1967, the play is a powerful exploration of interracial marriage that remains just as relevant today.
A progressive white couple’s proud liberal sensibilities are put to the test when their daughter brings her black fiancé home to meet them in this fresh and relevant stage adaptation of the iconic film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Blindsided by their daughter’s whirlwind romance and fearful for her future, Matt and Christina Drayton quickly come to realize the difference between supporting a mixed-race couple in your newspaper and welcoming one into your family — especially in 1967.
They’re surprised to find they aren’t the only ones with concerns about the match, and it’s not long before a multi-family clash of racial and generational difference sweeps across the Drayton’s idyllic San Francisco terrace. At the end of the day, will the love between young Joanna and John prevail?
With humor and insight, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner begins a conversation sure to continue at dinner tables long after the curtain comes down.
Falcon Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, Ted Weil, says, “this play is every bit as important today as the movie was in 1967. At its core, the story is about the subtle, often subconscious views we all have about the differences between people. It speaks directly to the challenges even liberal-minded individuals face when confronted by a situation that puts their beliefs to the test.”
Kevin Greene of New City Stage said of the Court Theatre production: “I left the opening night performance of Court Theatre’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner [with] the cockles of my effusive heart warmed all the way through.”
The film won Academy Awards for Katherine Hepburn for best Actress and William Rose for best Screenplay in 1967. The play, written in 2013, has received rave reviews at theaters across the country and is both a faithful retelling of a familiar story and a modern commentary on how far we still have to go.
Performances are at 8 PM on September 24, 25, 30, October 1, 2, 7, 8 & 9, 2021.
Tickets prices are $25 for adults and $15 for students with ID. Patrons enjoy a $5 discount for Thursday performances. Visit falcontheater.net to reserve seats.
Falcon Theatre is making the safety of our artists and audience a priority. We will be following CDC and Local Health guidelines. We are currently requiring everyone inside our theater (with the exception of actors onstage) to be masked at all times. Our Covid safety policy will be constantly updated on our website as safety recommendations change.
