Opens January 13, 2022 and Runs Through February 6.
Press Performance: Sunday, January 16 at 2:30 p.m.
18 December 2021: The Washington Stage Guild at last brings to the stage the Washington premiere of Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with André the Giant by Gino DiIorio. Originally scheduled for our 2019-20 season, the production was halted and postponed indefinitely by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. We are delighted to be able to produce this fascinating play at last.
Says Artistic Director Bill Largess, “Two years ago we were deep in rehearsals for this wonderful play when we had to shut it down and cancel the rest of the season. That makes it a very special pleasure to return to our interrupted production, and bring it to completion at last.”
One of the unlikeliest of friendships began when an aspiring writer, an Irish expatriate in France, gave a young man (whose remarkable size made him the object of derision) rides to school each day, and through the years they discuss playwriting, pro wrestling, and where their lives would lead them. The New York Times said, “Fans of professional wrestling and absurdist drama have a show to call their own…an affectionate tribute to a stage goliath and a grappler built like a butte.” These two titans of the 20th Century are embodied by two intriguing actors – Alan Wade as Sam (Beckett) and Benjamin Russell as André (the Giant) – under the direction of Stage Guild Associate Artistic Director Steven Carpenter.
“I’m so glad to finally be able to bring this play to DC audiences! Gino’s Absurdist-inspired script, with these icons forging a comically unexpected friendship and pondering the marks they might leave on the world, delivers both giant-sized laughs and moments of quiet rumination,” says Carpenter. “It’s a perfect match for the clever, thoughtful, and nuanced performances that Alan and Ben are crafting.”
The Cast
Benjamin Russell (Andre) is thrilled to make his Washington Stage Guild debut in Sam and Dede. Most recently Benjamin performed as Charlie Lee in Metropolitan Playhouse’s production of Radium Girls in New York and the Maitre’D in Gulf Coast Symphony’s production of She Loves Me with Bryce Pinkham in Ft. Myers, FL. Benjamin also performed as John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility with Bedlam and at the A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA. Regional credits include Hal in Proof at Schoodic Arts, Chris Keller in All My Sons at Mad Cow Theater, Mark Livingstone in The Poor of New York, Thomas in The Fifth Woman and Eustace in The Awful Truth at Metropolitan Playhouse, Tom Jr. in Sweet Bird of Youth, Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Gallery Players, Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate, Jim O’Connor in The Glass Menagerie and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at Classical Theatre of Maryland. Benjamin has also trained for four years at Jayd McCarty’s Studio, New York and one year at The British American Drama Academy in London. For more information and media please visit benjaminlrussell.com.
Alan Wade (Sam) played the title character in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in the Stage Guild’s inaugural production in 1986. He appeared subsequently at the Guild in five productions and directed five others including Beckett’s Happy Days featuring June Hansen. Mr. Wade’s one-man show I, from the prose of Samuel Beckett, premiered at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre in 1977, and was then performed in Baltimore and Boston. He appeared last season in Studio Theatre’s streaming production of Cock as F. His latest audiobook narration for Audible is Watson and Holmes by E.B. Dawson. Mr. Wade is Emeritus Professor of Theatre, The George Washington University. alan-wade.com.
Sam and Dede, Or My Dinner with André the Giant, is directed by Steven Carpenter. He has over 20 years’ experience as a professional actor and director in the greater Washington, D.C., area. A longtime company member of the Washington Stage Guild and now their associate artistic director, he has directed Resolving Hedda, Inventing Van Gogh, Red Herring, Opus, and The Underpants, among others. Other area productions include God of Carnage at Compass Rose, The Cripple of Inishmaan at 1st Stage; The Price, Mauritius and ‘ART’ at Bay Theatre; Barrymore, Hysteria, Trumbo, and Mrs. Farnsworth for Rep Stage; and The Chosen at Theater J. He received a Helen Hayes nomination for his production of Thief River at Theatre Alliance and is a past recipient of the Mary Goldwater Award for Excellence in Directing. This past season he appeared on stage at the Guild in Bloomsday and Hard Times and has also been seen here in Pygmalion (Henry Higgins), Summerland, Widowers’ Houses, Alabama Story, and The Philanderer (Helen Hayes nomination). His third Helen Hayes nomination came for providing all of the onstage live sound effects for the Guild’s It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Steven also narrates books for the blind with nearly 400 books to his credit, including The Grapes of Wrath, and Infinite Jest, and is a recipient of the Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award for Multilingual Nonfiction by the American Foundation for the Blind. He is the proud father of a prize-winning chess player and baseball-loving son, Sam, who shares a birthday with his namesake in this play, Mr. Beckett.
Designers
