Weir Farm Art Center Will Present

Theater Production About Its Namesake

WILTON — Weir Farm Art Center will present Lengthening Shadows: The Legacy of J. Alden Weir at Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, December 3, at 4 pm. This theatrical event is based on the diaries and letters of American artist Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919), his friends, family and fellow artists.

Writer and director William Russell refers to the theater piece as a “tapestry of voices.” Mr  Russell drew his inspiration from the wealth of material housed in the Weir Farm National Historic Site Archives in Wilton and Ridgefield. A professional actor, writer and director, Mr Russell has performed on stage as well as in television and film. He served as artistic director of Theatre Genesis, the playwrights’ theatre in Manhattan where fellow writers Sam Shepard and Leonard Melfi were actively involved.

Mr Russell is an actor-playwright member of Theatre Artists’ Workshop, which recently relocated in East Norwalk. The workshop was founded by Keir Dullea and Susie Fuller in 1983.

Like Mr Russell, the Lengthening Shadows performers are members of the Theatre Artists Workshop founded by actor Keir Dullea and Susie Fuller in 1983. Dullea and Fuller enlisted professional actors, writers and directors living in Fairfield County to create an environment that would “provide structured opportunities for experimentation in the theatre arts … to stimulate the development of unique theatrical material …and to act as a creative influence in the community.” Plays developed by Theatre Artists Workshop have gone on to Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and international productions.

Tickets range are $50 and $100 for the performance; Weir Farm Art Center members can purchase tickets for $40. Tickets may be purchased at the Ridgefield Playhouse box office; call 203-438-5795.

All proceeds will benefit Weir Farm Art Center, a non profit organization that sustains and promotes the legacy of Julian Alden Weir and preserves Weir Farm’s historic landscape and artistic tradition through its artist residency program, educational opportunities, exhibitions and publications, in alliance with the Weir Farm National Historic Site located in Wilton and Ridgefield.