The Westport Country Playhouse will host “Letters to Our Daughters,” a special community event honoring International Women’s day on Wednesday, March 8.
Tony Award-winning actress and Westport mom Kelli O’Hara is one of the readers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com
The 7 p.m. event will feature a diverse group of performers and writers including Tony Award winners Joanna Gleason and Kelli O’Hara, and best-selling author Jane Green, an announcement said.
The program is curated by Samantha Goober and Anne Keefe, Playhouse artist. The evening is free-of-charge, by reservation with the Playhouse’s box office, 203-227-4177, or online at http://www.westportplayhouse.org. Seating is general admission. The program is geared for ages 14 and up.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, the announcement said. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
“International Women’s Day is a great way of reminding us to celebrate the women in our lives, not just on this day, but every day,” said Goober.
“On March 8 we are looking forward to welcoming a group of vibrant women on our stage with a wealth of different backgrounds and experiences to share the words of an equally vibrant group of women writers from around the world.”
The event’s title “Letters to Our Daughters” is taken from a collection of essays by Maya Angelou called “Letters to My Daughter.” “In the spirit of her words, we adopted the title and changed it to reflect this event,” said Keefe.
Readers of works by female writers will include Farah Bala, actress on television’s “Broad City”; Danielle Davenport, regional theater actress; Joanna Gleason, Tony Award-winning actress; Jane Green, best-selling author; Khadija Gurnah, founder of Project Ejaba, an organization that advocates for Muslim youth; Ann Harada, actress on television’s “Smash” and the film “Sisters”; Wilhelmine Hartong, theater instructor at Regional Center for the Arts and WCP LGBT Night performer; Elise Kibler, Broadway actress; Pamela Lewis, director of the All Stars Project of Bridgeport; Aleta Mitchell, actress in WCP’s 2014 production of “Intimate Apparel”; Kelli O’Hara, Tony Award-winning actress; Patricia Russo, executive director of Women’s Campaign School at Yale; and Sharone Sayegh, Broadway actress.
Writers whose works will be represented in the evening’s program include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Maya Angelou, Nora Ephron, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Helen Keller, and Jessica Valenti.
Performers and authors are subject to change, the Playhouse said.
Community Partners for “Letters to Our Daughters” are Anti-Defamation League, Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, and YWCA of Darien/Norwalk.
“We really want to take a moment to celebrate women – their strengths, their stories, their extraordinary lives,” added Goober. “We hope our community members will bring their families to the Playhouse on March 8, so we can enjoy just a handful of the millions of stories women around our world have to tell.”
