Center Stage at Southampton Arts Center to present the Long Island premiere staged readings of Truman Capote’s holiday short stories One Christmas and A Christmas Memory.

Performances of One Christmas and A Christmas Memory will be held on Friday, November 29th at 2:00 PM, Saturday, November 30th at 2:00 PM (before the Annual Village Christmas Parade) and 7:00 PM (following the parade) and Sunday, December 1st at 2:00 PM.

The Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane in the village of Southampton, New York 11968.

Produced through Special Arrangements with and Permission Granted by The Truman Capote Literary Trust, Center Stage will bring to life the bittersweet, heartwarming and thought-provoking prose written by one of the 20th Century’s greatest and most celebrated American writers, Truman Capote. Set during The Great Depression of the early 1930s, the tales are based largely upon Capote’s youth in rural Alabama and focus on young Buddy and his lovingly eccentric cousin, Sook. Together, through two consecutive Christmases, Buddy and Sook learn much about honesty, love, loss and enduring friendship.

In One Christmas, young Buddy spends the holiday away from his Alabama family and in New Orleans with his rarely seen father. A Christmas Memory is Capote’s love letter to his elderly cousin, Sook, who raised him and taught him much about kindness, sharing and forever.

These productions are sponsored in part by Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

Michael Disher directs. Stage management and set design by Joey Giovingo. Lighting and Sound by Kenneth Blessing. Projections and music by Jack Seabury. Production photography by Dane Dupuis. Graphics, Program and Posters designed by Tracy Alia.

The Center Stage cast includes Patrick Abillama, Susan Cincotta, Tom Gregory, Vincenzo Harty, Joanna Mincarelli, Franco Pistritto, Jack Seabury,

Richard Schindler, Mary Sabo Scopinich.

“The Truman Capote Literary Trust was quite agreeable to having Mr. Capote’s short stories presented in an area he once called home. After negotiations were met and guidelines established, the trust granted permission. I am pleased and honored to be bringing these stories, in their entirety to the stage,” said Michael Disher. “It is the hope of the trust that interest in reading these stories is renewed. In many areas, A Christmas Memory was once required reading in many schools,” Disher stated.

Disher also added, “The response to The Thanksgiving Visitor was more than we could have ever expected. Brilliant prose presented simply and craftily by this ensemble of skilled local actors brought to life the tender youth of a young man during a tumultuous time in American history.”

Christina Strassfield, Executive Director of Southampton Arts Center stated, “We look forward to our second season and holiday collaboration with Center Stage at Southampton Arts Center. We can think of no better way to jumpstart the holiday season than with these beautiful tales.”

For further information, contact Michael Disher at mbentondisher@gmail.com.