People’s Light Presents Free Special Events During Dividing the Estate

In conjunction with the Philadelphia Premiere production of Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate, People's Light & Theatre will present two free events to complement the audience members' experience: A Conversation About Horton Foote on April 10th and Choosing Conservation in the 21st Century on May 16th. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For reservations call 610.644.3500. Dividing the Estate has been supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative.

EVENT INFORMATION

A Conversation About Horton Foote
With the Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout and People's Light's Artistic Director AbiGail Adams
Sunday, April 10th, 6pm
Steinbright Stage

Join us to hear Wall Street Journal's Theatre Critic Terry Teachout and Artistic Director AbiGail Adams discuss Dividing the Estate and one of America's greatest playwrights, Horton Foote.

Choosing Conservation in the 21st Century: An Evening with Natural Lands Trust
Monday, May 16th, 7pm
Main Stage

In the play Dividing the Estate, the Gordon family is locked in a battle over whether to divide, sell, or keep the family estate. While the play is fictional, the story is a common reality, and in Southeastern Pennsylvania where land is a hot commodity, disagreements among family members can have huge implications. As open space dwindles and estates are developed, what options are available to landowners? How can they balance financial needs with their love of the land? Spend an evening at People's Light with panel members who have in-depth personal experience with the issue: a landowner whose family chose conservation, a developer, a lawyer who advises landowners, and the president of the regional conservation organization

Natural Lands Trust.

The panelists are:

- Molly Morrison, President, Natural Lands Trust
- Jim Fuller, Vice President, Hankin Group
- Tim Barnard, attorney, Barnard, Mezzanotte, Pinnie & Seelaus
- Grace Sharples Cooke, landowner whose mother donated an easement to NLT

DIVIDING THE ESTATE
By Horton Foote
Directed by AbiGail Adams
May 11 - June 5, 2011
Main Stage

The Broadway hit makes its Philadelphia premiere at People's Light! In a small Texas town c. 1987 at the height of the oil recession, the Gordons are land rich, cash poor and grandly deluded. A crisis in the family forces these self-absorbed, endearingly dysfunctional brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and servants to agree on a course of action to steady what looks like a very uncertain future.

ABOUT PEOPLE'S LIGHT

People's Light, a professional, not-for-profit theatre in Chester County, Pennsylvania, makes plays drawn from many sources to entertain, inspire, and engage our community. We extend our mission of making and experiencing theatre through arts education programs that excite curiosity about, and deepen understanding of, the world around us. These plays and programs bring people together and provide opportunities for reflection, discovery, and celebration. Founded in 1974, we produce seven to nine plays each season, in two black box theatres with 350 and 170 seats respectively, mixing world premieres, contemporary plays, and fresh approaches to classic texts for our 6-Play and Discovery Series.