Metropolitan Playhouse
Virtual Playhouse
Presents
A Screened Reading
of

HER OPINION OF HIS STORY

Written by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
Directed by JOHN LONG

Graphic Art by MARTHA O’CONNELL

Featuring
WHITNEY ANDREWS, WENDY MERRITT, & BENJAMIN RUSSELL

Talkback follows with BRENDA MURPHY, PhD, Professor Emeritus at University of Connecticut

www.metropolitanplayhose.org/virtualplayhouse
Metropolitan Playhouse at YouTube.com

May 15, 2021 8 p.m.
Available through May 19, 2021

Young Lettice is nervously fussing around on the veranda, awaiting her 10 a.m. “appointment”. Her Aunt Catherine sits nearby, sewing and watching Lettice with a very observant eye. Young Paul is dropping by to hear Lettice’s views on the short story he is writing. He admires her intelligence and insights. “Right”, thinks Aunt Catherine. “He admires way more than that, you silly girl.”

Paul arrives, blushing, stumbling over his words, shuffling the manuscript he carries. His “story” is about a poor young man in love with a wealthy girl. Paul wants a female opinion on what happens next. Should his “hero” make a fortune, then ask for the girl’s hand? Perhaps simply approach her honestly? Lettice, the romantic, eagerly suggests a variety of options. Tsk-tsk. She’s not catching on. And Paul’s “hero” totally lacks the courage to approach his love. Four-way stop. Maybe.

Written in 1907, this sweet little satire mocks social conventions using social convention stereotypes. Paul is feckless, Lettice is naïve. A sort of house-of-mirrors self-parody. Great nuanced performances by WHITNEY ANDREWS, WENDY MERRITT, & BENJAMIN RUSSELL.

-Karen D’Onofrio-