Kennedy Theatre

Media Release

Department of Theatre and Dance
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
1770 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI 96822

Contact: Jessica L. Jacob, Publicity Director
Phone: (808) 956-2598
Fax: (808) 956-4234
Box Office: (808) 956-7655 (v/t)
email: theatre-pr@hawaii.edu

October 26, 2003
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“HYSTERICAL” TEAM GOES HISTORICAL WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF “MASKED BALLS”

The creative team that brought the smash success “Hysterical: A Short History of the Vibrator” to UHM’s Kennedy Theatre and to the New York International Fringe Festival presents a new work, “Masked Balls: a story of sex, lies, and measuring tape.” The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to welcome this newest offering from Master of Fine Arts in playwriting candidate Hilary Hadley Wright and directed by Jennifer Goodlander. “Masked Balls” will be performed in the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre November 19, 20, 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. and 23 at 2 p.m. The Friday night performance will feature a post-show discussion with the director and cast.

“Masked Balls” is based on the true story of Charles Genevieve d’Eon de Beaumont, an 18th century French diplomat, solider and spy who became a lady of leisure after displeasing the king. Having heard rumors that d’Eon was really female, Louis XVI only permitted him to reside in France if he lived as a woman – thus forcing d’Eon to give up all his former dashing espionage activities. As a woman, she found spiritual solace in her faith, which she came to see as a means of forgiveness for the excesses of her life as a man. So convincingly did she live both of these lives that her biological gender was finally determined only after her death.

Hilary Hadley Wright is an award-winning writer who has published five books in the U.K. on wine, wine tourism, and gardening (her most recent book, “Biodynamic Gardening,” was published in April 2003). Wright’s move into playwriting came from a desire to go back to her roots. She worked in professional theatre and television in England and Germany for many years before becoming a wine writer, and is delighted to be bringing together her different areas of skill and experience. “It was while I was researching ‘Water into Wine,’ a guide to touring the vineyards of France by boat, that I first discovered Eon de Beaumont,” Wright explained. “In Tonnerre, d’Eon’s birthplace, I met a passionate winemaker who used on his labels a picture of d’Eon dressed half as a man, half as a woman. I was immediately inspired by the story, but it wasn’t until I hit on the idea of splitting the character into a male and a female role that it really started to take shape.”

Wright’s first comedy at UHM, “Hysterical: A Short History of the Vibrator” also directed by Jennifer Goodlander, broke all Late Night Theatre box office records when it premiered at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre in September 2002. It was subsequently selected from over 700 entries to be part of the New York International Fringe Festival, the largest Fringe in the USA. Cast and crew enjoyed their Big Apple experience, even surviving the Big Blackout. “I walked nine miles home that night, relieved to get home before dark,” Wright recalls. “Manhattan was much more fun when everyone was on foot!” She hopes to repeat the success of “Hysterical” with “Masked Balls,” which is also rooted in historical fact and given her own special comedic-satiric spin.

Tickets for “Masked Balls” go on sale Monday, November 17 at the Kennedy Theatre Box Office and may be purchased in person or charged-by-phone at 956-7655 (v/t) Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $10 regular, $8 seniors, military, UH faculty/staff, non-UHM students, $3 UHM students with validated Fall 2003 UHM photo ID. For more information, charge-by-phone, or disability access, call the Kennedy Theatre Box Office at 956-7655 (v/t).

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