THEATRE

John Lithgow will perform his theatrical memoir Stories By Heart to benefit the American Repertory Theater on Monday, May 2.

Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award-winner John Lithgow offers a touching and humorous reflection on storytelling as the tie that binds humanity in Stories By Heart. He traces his roots as an actor and storyteller, interspersing his own stories with two classic short stories that were read to him when he was a child. Lithgow imparts the wonder and joy he felt when he first heard Wodehouse’s “Uncle Fred Flits By” (1935), a funny story about a nephew taken on an afternoon’s escapade by his mischievous uncle, and Lardner’s “Haircut” (1925), a darkly comic tale told by the local barber about a small-town practical joker who gets his due.

Stories By Heart was performed at Lincoln Center in New York in 2008, the Lytlleton Theater in London in 2009, and opened the Mark Taper Forum season in Los Angeles this January, drawing enthusiastic reviews and audiences at all three venues.

Tickets for the event are $75, $125, and $250 and include a tax-deductible contribution to the A.R.T. All ticket holders will receive a complimentary beverage at intermission. All $250 ticket holders will be invited to a special post-performance reception with John Lithgow.

“A tour de force that doubles as a primer on acting....”
— The New York Times

“Lithgow’s particular gift is deftly to interpret material through a slightly skewed, surreal and scampish perception.”
— Times, London