The Good Doctor
by Neil
Simon
Directed by Stephanie Hepburn
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The
Good Doctor is Neil Simon's tribute to Anton
Chekhov combining the best of both styles: the dark humor of Chekhov
and the one-liner humor of Simon. It has always received mixed reviews
from the critics, largely, one suspects, because it
represented a divergence from Simon's usual style and we all know that
writers are not supposed to grow and develop! The leading character is
a writer (Chekhov) whose opening monologue is an amalgam
of Simon's own words and those of Tregorin from The Seagull.
Only some of the scenes are based on Chekhov stories. Just under half
are Simon's own inventions. One, The Audition, was written as a
showcase for his wife Marsha Mason.

Stephanie's first encounter with The Good Doctor was in 1976 when she
directed it as her Master's thesis at the University of Georgia. Since
then, she has directed the play in every place she has lived with the
only exception of Bristol, England, where she was too busy acting to do
much directing. In each of the productions,
Angus has played the writer. In this, New York version, Whtney Chapman
took the young woman's roles and Kevin Benham, the young man's roles.
Jane Reibel, who also appeared for us in Gamma Rays, played the
character woman and Jack Cooper the charcter man. We brought in Dan
Murphy to play the sexton in the all-Simon scene "The Surgery". Danny
had worked lights for our very first production, Talley's Folly and was
a Senior a Peekskill High School. He had recently done the
same role in the school production and had been so good he was invited
to reprise the role with us. The only other major deviation from the
normal assignment of roles was that Stephanie and Angus took over "Too
Late For Happiness", the piece about the old couple on a park bench
trying to make contact.
They had wanted to do this scene together for years and at last got the
opportunity. The scene is part spoken and part sung to some lovely
music by Simon's friend Peter Link.
We staged the show with more of a proscenium arch arrangement than
usual, keeping most of the audience across the front to give us more
width than we usually get with the three-quarters staging we normally
use.
The Good Doctor
by Neil Simon
directed by Stephanie Hepburn
Cast in order of appearance
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Act One
The Writer......................
The Sneepe......................
The Governess..................
Surgery.............................
Too Late For Happiness..........
The Seduction...........................
Act Two
The Drowned Man.................
The Audition.....................
A Defenseless Creature........
The Arrangement.................
The Writer................... |
Angus Hepburn
Angus Hepburn, Kevin Benham, Whitney Chapman
Jack Cooper, Jane Doniger Reibel
Jane Doniger Reibel, Whitney Chapman
Angus Hepburn, Dan Murphy
Angus Hepburn, Stephanie Hepburn
Angus Hepburn, Kevin Benham, Whitney Chapman
Angus Hepburn, Kevin Benham, Dan Murphy
Angus Hepburn, Whitney Chapman
Jane Doniger Reibel, Jack Cooper, Kevin Benham
Angus Hepburn, Kevin Benham, Whitney Chapman
Angus Hepburn |
the setting
Russia
the late Eighteen hundreds.
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Production Crew
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Director.........................
Producer..........................
Stage Manager....................
Stage Crew.......................
Lights/Sound...........................................
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Stephanie Hepburn
Ginny Light
Nancy Saunders
PRT members and PRT acting students
The Paramount Staff |
Special thanks to:
Kathy Beaver, Fr. Bob Warren and Graymoor, James Hepburn, The Masters
School, Ralph Mastromonaco, Milano Tuxedo, Peekskill High School, Kim
Sparling, Helen Zurhellen.
The Good Doctor is produced by special
arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
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Updated:
- 16th Street Graphics Copyright © 2002
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