Theatre - Dorothy Parker Takes a Trip

EVENT DIRECTOR: Richard Williams

BAR: In marquee from 7:00PM

Suitable for all ages

The show has a first half of 30 mins an interval and part two of 50 mins.

Dorothy Parker was an American writer, journalist, Hollywood script writer and, most famously, the witty heart of America in the dazzling of period of the Jazz Age and beyond. The most sought-after writer of the Roaring Twenties, she was notorious for her piercing one-liners. This show captures her comedy and cleverness, her lethal wit and legendary wisdom.

‘The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.’

‘If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.’

The actor/singer Sarah Gabriel creates the high and lows of Dorothy’s life and the story is shot through with a selection of the most delicious songs that formed the sound track of Dorothy’s life. Together with the leading pianist Florian Mitrea they form a musical powerhouse, performing some of the greatest songs from musicals of the period by Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael and others.

Despite her tremendous public fame, her personal life was a mess –

‘Take me or leave me; or, as is the usual order of things, both’, she wrote.

Although she had a very public profile, mystery surrounded her, particularly what happened after her death. Her ashes remained unclaimed in her lawyer’s office for 22 years. In the show Sarah plays her lawyer’s assistant who has developed a special friendship with her ashes and a filing cabinet over the years!

Dorothy Parker Takes a Trip, the one-act, solo play commissioned by and premiered at Dartington International Festival, has enjoyed sell out performances at Oxford Playhouse, The Presteigne Festival, Lichfield Festival, Birmingham/Sutton Coldfield Concerts and The Hoinar International Music Festival in Bucharest.

Click here to watch an advert for the performance in Bucharest - don’t worry the show is all in English!