The Mint Theater Company (Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director; Matthew McVey-Lee, Producing Director) premieres PHYL, a rarely-seen comedy by pioneering British playwright and suffragist Cecily Hamilton, on Saturday, October 3, running through Saturday, November 7 at Theatre Row. The play is directed by Britt Berke.
PHYL follows Phyllis Chester, a governess trapped in a solitary existence and walled off from the life she craves—until a moment of lost temper leads her to risk everything.
The play launches Mint Theater Company’s new season, featuring two frank, provocative, and deeply human works exploring sex, love, marriage and the complexities of relationships. Originally scheduled to premiere in Oxford, UK in 1911, PHYL was banned by the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, although it had passed the scrutiny of the Lord Chamberlain without requiring the alteration of a single line. The play instead premiered in Manchester, where one disapproving critic described PHYL as “slaking thirsty lips in the voluptuous pleasure of life.” When Hamilton was asked how she described the play, she replied, “Well, I call it a comedy because it has a happy ending, and I hope somebody is funny in it,” adding “All those Oxford small boys can run up to London any time they like and see something much worse.”
The cast of PHYL features Lily Ganser (Broadway: Stereophonic) as Phyllis “Phyl” Chester, Tessa Blimes (Film: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend), Jennifer Blood (Broadway: Girl From the North Country), Curzon Dobell (Mint’s A Little Journey and Susan and God), Katie Firth (Off-Broadway: The Hiding Place), Livvy Marcus (National Tour: Suffs), Anthony Michael Martinez (Off-Broadway: Titus Andronicus), Talia Sulla (Off-Broadway: A Perfect Peace) and Charlotte Van Ledtje (Lincoln Center’s Zelda).
Tickets begin at $39 and may be purchased online at MintTheater.org, by calling 212-714-2442, extension 2, or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office, Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Service fees apply to online and telephone orders.
Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, NYC
