John Lithgow: Stories by Heart

John Lithgow: Stories by Heart, which was originally presented by Lincoln Center Theater last spring, is a touching and funny meditation on the art and essence of storytelling. Invoking memories of his grandmother and father before him, Lithgow traces his own history as an actor and storyteller, a history spanning three generations.

For this return engagement, Mr. Lithgow will perform two different evenings in repertory. The first will be the return of his lauded performance of the P. G. Wodehouse story Uncle Fred Flits By, in which the actor performs a bravura, forty-minute comic monologue, spouting Wodehouse’s dazzling language – portraying nine distinct, outrageous characters with zany abandon.

The second will be a performance of the Ring Lardner story Haircut, the writer’s 1925 tale in which a barber, while giving a haircut to a stranger in town, catches the newcomer up on recent events in the community, and in doing so tells a comical but ultimately dark and suspenseful tale.