THE VIOLET HOUR APPROACHES....

It is 1919, and young professional John Pace Seavering has just opened his own publishing firm in a tiny loft-office which he shares with his high-strung assistant Gidger. John has enough money to publish only one book and finds himself, as the story begins, having to choose between the works of the two people who are closest to him: his best friend Denis McCleary and his secret lover, Jessie Brewster. Denis has written a novel called The Violet Hour, which is so long it makes War and Peace look like a children’s book. He desperately needs it to be a success, however, to earn the favor of the family of his heiress girlfriend, Rosamund Plinth, who threatens to end her life if she cannot be with Denis. Meanwhile, Jessie, a popular black jazz singer who wants her memoirs published and her name memorialized, pressures John when she discovers her own life may be nearing an end.

In the midst of this life-altering decision, John’s office receives a mysterious delivery: a machine, which John and Gidger neither ordered nor comprehend. Their confusion is further entrenched when the machine is powered up and begins spewing out paper, which they soon realize is printed with words from the future...words that give John knowledge of who he will become, and how his important first decision will affect the lives of everyone he loves. "The Violet Hour" is ultimately a story of a time in all of our lives when the future is full of possibility; a time, like the “violet hour” sky described in the play, “when the
evening’s about to reward you for the day.”

The Violet Hour premiered on Broadway in 2003. Richard Greenberg is the Tony-winning author of Take Me Out.

DIRECTED BY: BRIAN HANSCOM

Drayton Hall Theatre

Show dates and times:

September 26 - October 5, 2008
8pm Tuesday - Saturday
3pm Sunday

Tickets: $16 general public, $14 USC Faculty/Staff, Military and Seniors (60+), $10 Students with ID