When first taking on this project, I thought The Heiress to be little more than a curiosity, an actor-driven "period piece" evoking a time and place far different than our own. After researching some history of the mid-19th century, however, I quickly realized how mistaken I was. I hope that a little historical context will enhance your enjoyment of this classic piece of theater.

I know, of course that the period of time leading up to the Civil War was a time of great social upheaval, but I had always thought of that mostly in terms of slavery. Meanwhile, pioneers were expanding the country's boundaries, immigration was beginning to wrest control of the economy away from agriculture. All of these things created an uncertainty about the future which precipitated a "reform" movement across the country:

These reform efforts ... reflected one of two basic impulses, and at times elements of both. Many of these movements rested on an optimistic faith in human nature, a belief that within every individual resided a spirit that was basically good and that society should attempt to unleash. This assumption ... stood in marked contrast to the traditional Calvinist assumption that man's impulses and instincts were evil and needed to be repressed. Instead, reformers now argued, individuals should strive to give full expression to the inner spirit, should work to unleash their capacity to experience joy and to do good.

A second impulse, which appeared directly to contradict the first but in practice often existed alongside it, was a desire for order and control. With their society changing so rapidly, with their traditional values and institutions being challenged and eroded, many Americans yearned above all for restoration of stabillity and discipline to their nation. Often, this impulse embodied a conservative nostalgia for better, simpler times. But, it also inspired efforts to create new institutions of social control suited to the realities of the new age.

- from "American History: A Survey" by Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, Frank Freidel, and Alan Brinkley

The above quote could have been written about what has happened in the past 20 years or so--the social changes, the pendulum swing from Reagan-era policies to Clintonian philosophies and back again, the dot-com economy boom and bust. And what's more, that "expression of the inner spirit" sounds like something straight from Oprah Winfrey.

In what you will see this evening, the battle of reform is for Catherine's heart, mind and fortune, waged between her Calvinist father and her free-spirited suitor with varying degrees of joy, bitterness, desire, rage, triumph, and grief. I have come to understand that such issues of control could explain much of our whole human history, but I will leave it up to you, the audience, to decide what expression of catherine's "inner spirit" she achieves at the end.

Craig Allen Mummey

The Heiress, by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, is based on the Henry James novel "Washington Square." This classic tale of love and betrayal centers around the socially awkward and painfully shy spinster Catherine, who in 1850 stands to inherit a tidy sum. When the handsome but penniless Morris Townsend begins to woo her, Catherine's suspicious father, bitter over his wife's death and at Catherine's inability to live up to her mother's reputation, cruelly insists that she is not worthy of true love and threatens to disinherit her. Will Catherine choose love? Will love choose her? All is in doubt until the emotionally shattering conclusion. The film version starred Olivia de Havilland (who won an Oscar), Montgomery Clift and Ralph Richardson.

Aunt Elizabeth Almond

Kate Blackburn

Catherine Sloper

Rebecca Ellis

Arthur Townsend

Jim Gunning

Marian Almond

Heather Whitpan

Dr. Austin Sloper

Frank B. Moorman

Mrs. Montgomery

Niji Ramunas

Morris Townsend

Greaton Sellers

Aunt Lavinia Penniman

Heidi Sue Toll

Maria

Jennifer Toll

Set, Lighting, Sound Design

Garrett R. Hyde

Costumer

Suzanne Reams

Props

Joan MacDonnell