Long Wharf Theatre Photo
Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner, the Golden Globe-award-winning actress who’s appeared in such celebrated films as Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Prizzi’s Honor, and The Accidental Tourist, will direct and star in Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Frank Marcus’ The Killing of Sister George at Long Wharf Theatre this fall.
“The show replaces the previously announced God of Carnage on the schedule and will take place November 28, 2012-December 23, 2012,” according to a press release, which explains that “the estate of Frank Marcus has given Hatcher permission to re-envision the original 1964 play” and quotes Turner as saying, “This is going to be another level of challenge to me. I truly enjoy directing. I love creating the overall picture, which is more than an actor usually gets to do.”
Long Wharf’s press release indicates that Turner “appeared at Long Wharf Theatre during the 1986 – 87 season as Marguerite Gautier in (Pam Gems’ adaptation of The Lady of the Camellias, by Alexandre Dumas, fils) Camille.”
In his December 1986 review of that production for The New York Times, Mel Gussow wrote: “Kathleen Turner is a rapturous Camille. In her return to the stage at the height of her movie stardom, she radiates magnetism and sensuality. … From her first entrance, it is evident that this is a woman who has willed herself to be the self-possessed center of attention.”
Of The Killing of Sister George, Long Wharf Theatre Artistic Director, Gordon Edelstein said (in the press release), “This play was highly influential and controversial in England in the 1960s. Kathleen taking this role at Long Wharf Theatre is an extraordinary gift to our audience and the icing on the cake of what promises to be a remarkable (2012 – 2013) season.”