New York City
In Lillian Groag’s Ladies of the Camellias, we are transported to 1894, France. Dangerous riots and political unrest are brewing outside a major Paris theatre. But let’s never mind that! On the inside, two of the greatest rivals in the history of the stage – Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse – are girding for their perceptive, quick-witted and legendary encounter. What happens when the realities of poverty and injustice invade the make-believe world of footlights and grease paint? What does art say in the face of violence? And who gets to laugh last? Nationally acclaimed director and playwright Lillian Groag makes her Colony Theatre directing debut with her witty, incisive play about the enduring power of theatre amidst a titanic clash of wills and the unstoppable forces of history.