The Devil’s Disciple by George Bernard Shaw Mar. 20–May 24, 2009 an asolo rep production in the mertz theatre A timely, crackling comedy presented in true Shaw style, set in New Hampshire during the American Revolution. Self-professed “devil’s disciple” Dick Dudgeon rejects Puritan values to follow his will, the Reverend Anderson follows his heart and practices what he preaches, and his wife is the picture of piety until British soldiers mistakenly arrest Dick instead of the Reverend. This thoroughly enjoyable production comes to Asolo Rep fresh from a critically acclaimed Broadway run.   Creative Loafing, 03/25/09 Sarasota Magazine, 03/23/09 Herald-Tribune, 03/15/09 Playbill, 03/13/09 Theater Mania, 03/12/09 Broadway World, 03/12/09 Orlando Sentinel, 03/12/09

AUDIENCE REACTION VIDEO SETTING The play takes place in the town of Websterbridge, New Hampshire at various locations including Mrs. Dudgeon’s home, the home of Reverend and Mrs. Anderson, the Town Hall, and a gallows platform in the town square. The time is the year 1777. The Devil’s Disciple will be performed with one intermission.   DIRECTORS NOTES One of the reasons I have often returned to Shaw in the course of my directing adventures is that the sheer pleasure of tangling with his brilliance far outweighs the demands and frustrations of bringing his work fully alive for audiences over 100 years after he committed it to paper. The more we dig into the text, the more timely his words seem to become...and The Devil’s Disciple in particular is a play whose subject matter remains eminently relevant today. In fact, a comment Shaw made shortly after the play was first produced highlights the similarities between the society he was writing for and our own contemporary culture. He noted that “at the end of the nineteenth century there was never a play more certain to be written than The Devil’s Disciple. The age was visibly pregnant with it. A generation that is thoroughly moralized and patriotized, that conceives virtuous indignation as spiritually nutritious, that murders the murderer and robs the thief, that grovels before all sorts of ideals, social, military, ecclesiastical, royal and divine, may be, from my point of view, steeped in error...” This sentiment – alas – could just as easily be referring to our current political and social challenges. It often feels as if nothing substantial has changed for the better here in America over the last 110 years. In some ways perhaps, it may even have become a little worse.  I came to live and work in the U.S. partly because I was very affected by historical accounts of the humanity and generosity of the Founding Fathers’ original “dream,” and I find myself getting goose bumps at the reverse-reminders of that dream from today’s political and military perspective. Reminders of what an extraordinary country this so nearly is…if only… We now find ourselves in a position perilously close to that of the British forces in this play; a situation that can not continue much longer without calamitous results. Shaw’s play reminds us that in order to live up to the potential of that original dream of America, we must each be willing to make a stand for our individual beliefs, and never “grovel” before ideals that have become twisted out of shape. For the first New York production of The Devil’s Disciple 111 years ago, the cast count hovered around 100 or more. I have endeavored to be somewhat more economical – in its 2007-2008 season, our Irish Rep production featured 11 actors. Here at Asolo Rep we are using 15. Except for a little necessary patchwork, this has not essentially affected the dialogue…and even the “patches” are of Shaw’s own making, extracted from elsewhere in his work. Despite the above, I trust this “miniaturization” of his unnervingly timely play may still provide the crackle and punch and pleasure of G.B.S.’ extravagantly imposing original. --Text extracted from materials relating to the 2007-2008 Irish Rep production of The Devil’s Disciple directed by Tony Walton, including a published interview between Tony Walton and the Irish Rep’s Artistic Director, Charlotte Moore.

PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Michael Donald Edwards DIRECTED & DESIGNED BY Tony Walton LIGHTING DESIGNER James D. Sale CO-COSTUME DESIGNER Rebecca Lustig SOUND DESIGNER Matthew Parker VOCAL COACH Patricia Delorey STAGE MANAGER Marian Wallace* ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR Joel Waage STAGE MANAGEMENT INTERN Joan Ghitis CO-PRODUCERS Roz Goldberg & Alan Bandler Winnie Hodgson The Huisking Foundation Anne R. Garlington, Commerica Wealth Management Peter & Patricia Laughlin Emily Levine Nona MacDonald-Heaslip Jules & Sheila Rose Harris & Ann Silver Edie Winston, In Loving Memory of Herb Winston   SPONSORS