Philanthropist, The (2009) Production Files

Collection
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Identifier: PHILANTHROPIST2009
Inclusive Dates: 2009
Extent:
Production Files documenting the 2009 production of Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist at the American Airlines Theatre.  Directed by David Grindley, with set design by Tim Shortall, costume design by Tobin Ost, lighting design by Rick Fisher, and sound design by Gregory Clarke.  

The production starred Matthew Broderick as Philip, with Jonathan Cake as Braham, Anna Madeley as Celia and Steven Weber as Donald.  Tate Ellington played John, Jennifer Mudge was Araminta and Samantha Soule was Elizabeth, with Janie Brookshire, Matthiel Cornillon and Quentin Mare acting as understudies.

The production does not appear to have been nominated for any awards.
A play set in the insular world of academia, The Philanthropist is often described as an inversion of Moliere's The Misanthrope. "Hampton's main character is Philip, a man who doesn't necessarily ignore the events going on in the larger world but who can't seem to form an opinion about them at all. Philip is so neutral that he had to teach philology (the study of form and meaning in linguistic expression) rather than literature.  After all, it would be hard to teach the latter subject when you've never read a book you didn't like."  In The Misanthrope, "the character Alceste is Philip's polar opposite--he just can't' keep his opinions to himself, and they tend to be pretty unfavorable.... [where] Philip is neutral and unengaged, then Alceste is overly-engaged with the world around him."  -- Roundabout 

The Philanthropist premiered in 1970; Roundabout's was based on a similar production directed by David Grindley which was produced by the Donmar Warehouse in London in 2005.
Production Files are contained in one deep Hollinger box consisting of 19 folders, a Playbill, 5 marketing flyers and the cast/family photo.

Digital holdings on the Archive 1 server include the following folders:
Costume Photographs (Archive-produced of items held in the collection)
Education (Pdf files of a lecture about the show and the Upstage study guide)
Lighting Design (Digital lighting files, including lighting board cues, equipment lists, magic sheets, channel hookups, etc)
Media (Mp5 video footage of a performance [including raw footage], plus mp4 interviews, B-roll, and jpeg photo files from events such as Hiptix, Wine Series, etc)
Opening Night (206 jpeg files)
Playbill (21 jpeg scans)
Press (Archive-scanned selects)
Production Photographs (Captioned selects only)
Show Art

There is a related collection of marketing materials on the Marketing shelves.  Contracts and other confidential documents are stored in the Contracts cabinet and access is restricted.  A hard copy of the production's poster can be found on the Poster shelves.

The Archive contains Braham's (Jonathan Cake) maroon velvet pinstripe suit, which is stored on the Costume Shelves; photographs of the costume are on the Archive 1 server.
Access Restrictions: Open and available to approved researchers by appointment only. See folder details for specific restrictions.
Preferred Citation: The Philanthropist 2009, Roundabout Theatre Company Archive
Related Staged Production

Philanthropist, The

Related Playreading

Philanthropist, The (Playreading)


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