The Philanthropist

by Christopher Hampton and directed by Albie Minns

The Maskers presented The Philanthropist at the Maskers Studio Theatre from 15th to 19th March 2005. The production played to full houses throughout the week.

Director's notes;

The Philanthropist is a comedy about social decline.

    Philip. a naïve, happy, bourgeois young man lives in a cocoon of world-play and anagrams and is fascinated at the way words reflect the health of society -- "words illustrating civilisation". He is an idealist who always believes the best in other people.

    All the characters around him however are decadent in some way or other. They reflect the way society has declined since the great achievements of the Empire days. They are cynical, lazy, selfish and generally foolish. Philip is the only altruistic character among them. His decision to give up smoking reflects his desire to remain young, healthy and hopeful, but by the end of the play, when he has lost everything, he goes back to smoking in despair and anxiety. He has given in. His positive outlook on life has turned out to be ridiculously sane and he has decided to join the others and take his place in the decadent society of the 1970's.

    At the end, it's almost as if Christopher Hampton himself is saying "I hate thee sterile anagram":- The Author, the man of words, is saying that his play is bourgeois and of no value, that the life he leads as a playwright will do nothing to help the underprivileged in the third world. It's interesting that some of Christopher Hampton's serious plays are about the way Britain exploits the poorer countries of the world.

Albie and Jez Minns.

Photographs by courtesy of Clive Weeks ( www.cwphotos.co.uk )

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The Cast

Philip	Matt Avery
Donald	Jonny Hearn
John	Paul Mills
Celia	Rachael Courage
Braham	Alan Watson
Araminta	Cat Andrews
Liz	Alex Austin

For the Maskers

Director	Albie Minns
Production Manager	Lyn Austin
Production Assistant	Caroline Irwin
Stage Managers	Lyn Austin and Paul Mills
Lighting Design	Nathan weeks
Lighting Assistant	Kathryn Salmon
Sound	Geoff Grandy
Special Effects	Graham Buchanan
Set Design and Construction	Graham Buchanan and Caroline Irwin
Properties and Furnishing	Gill Buchanan, Lyn Austin, Clare Minns,           Tony Austin, Caroline Irwin
Marketing	Angie Stansbridge
Photography	Clive Weeks
Transport	Tony Austin
Box Office	Alan Baker