Peter Hinton Davis & HAUI | The Shadow of a Doubt
Wharton Revisited Series
July 28, 2024
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Generations of authors, performers, and artists have been drawn to Edith Wharton’s writing as a source of inspiration. New to our 2024 programming lineup, this series of talks explores exciting recent adaptations–on the page and for the stage.
Known as the “lost Edith Wharton play,” The Shadow of a Doubt (1901) was hidden away in an archive for 122 years until it was unearthed by two scholars, Mary Chinery and Laura Rattray, in 2016. In 2023, The Shaw Festival of Canada presented the world premiere of the play—at long last, bringing Wharton’s vision to life. As part of the Wharton Revisited series, director Peter Hinton-Davis and designer HAUI will take us behind the scenes of The Shaw to delve into the process of mounting their award-winning production of The Shadow of a Doubt—from concept to opening.
“The Shadow of a Doubt is a rare artefact from an exceptional writer experimenting in drama. While the play offers many surprises and departures from [Wharton's] literary oeuvre, her 'voice' is unmistakable... It’s a dark and luminous play–a political ghost story–a genre in which Wharton excelled and wrote often, but here, the ghosts are not only the dead, but also the unrealized freedoms and that haunt her protagonist. To direct a play that was never performed in her lifetime is an honor to tackle, but also a risk. Maybe Wharton never felt the play was ready or would be ever accepted? We may have an advantage in retrospect–but just.”
- Peter Hinton Davis
This theatrical lecture with images courtesy of The Shaw Festival will be introduced by Dr. Mary Chinery, Dean, School of Arts, Sciences, and Education at Georgian Court University. Join us for an exciting and rare opportunity to meet an unknown Edith Wharton work, and a mystery of the American theater.
Interested in becoming a Mount Member? Join today!
Photo: Courtesy of The Shaw Festival
The Mount is a Massachusetts Cultural Council UP designated organization welcoming participants of all disabilities. Please contact The Mount at 413-551-5100 or by email, info@edithwharton.org, to discuss accommodations needed to participate fully in this event. The Mount's Health and Safety Guidelines can be found here.
Thanks to our sponsors:
Naomi Gordon
- Sales for all lectures will open for Mount Members on Monday, May 13, and to the general public on Wednesday, May 15. Prices are $15 (Mount Members) and $20 (General Admission). All lectures and panel discussions are free for graduate and undergraduate students, and children under 18. Check back to book online!
- This program will take place in the Stable Auditorium.
Peter Hinton-Davis has directed over 250 productions for theatre and opera since 1984. He has written plays and theatrical adaptations produced at the National Arts Centre, the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival and has written the librettos for 2 operas by Peter Hannan for Modern Baroque Opera in Vancouver. His recent directing credits Include the world premiere of The Shadow of a Doubt by Edith Wharton at The Shaw Festival, Dion by Ted Dykstra for Coalmine Theatre in Toronto and in the spring will direct a new staging of Wagner’s Das Rheingold for Edmonton Opera. This marks the significant undertaking of staging the entire Ring Cycle, starting in 2024 and continuing through subsequent performances until 2027.. His productions have been seen at Canada’s most prestigious theatres and opera companies including the Canadian Opera Company and at every regional theatre in Canada from The Arts Club in Vancouver to The Neptune Theatre in Halifax.
Peter was Associate Artistic Director at the Canadian Stage Company and Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto and Artistic Director of English Theatre at Canada’s National Arts Centre. As an educator he has taught at the National Theatre School, Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Alberta. From 2012-2020, Peter, taught the MFA seminar in stage direction at York University. He is the recipient of numerous theatre awards across Canada, and in 2009, Peter was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
HAUI is an award-winning mixed media artist who directs, devises and designs cross-disciplinary works for stage, screen and visual mediums. Career highlights include directing his feature-film debut Mixed↑ produced with trans filmmaker Jack Fox in association with the world’s largest LGBTQ+ Network OUTtv. Haui directed and devised Private Flowers featuring Rodney Diverlus and Jera Wolfe commissioned by the City of Toronto/Toronto History Museum and National Ballet of Canada. The film is currently touring worldwide, most recently screening at the Oscar® Qualifying Pan African Film Festival founded by Danny Glover. Haui also designed the world premiere of Edith Wharton’s The Shadow of a Doubt, directed by Peter Hinton-Davis produced at the Shaw Festival and associate directed the Toronto premiere of Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy.
HAUI was recently published by Playwrights Canada Press and will direct his libretto, Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White (by HAUI and Sean Mayes), produced by the Canadian Opera Company this summer. HAUI has won numerous awards including the Canadian Choice Award, People’s Choice Award most recently as a Visual Artist. In 2023 HAUI was recognized by Toronto Metropolitan University as the Outstanding Recent Graduate Award in recognition of his distinction in the arts and notable service to the community nationally and internationally. Known for rejecting categorizations, HAUI amplifies overlooked themes, myths, histories and perspectives through an unconventional, diverse lens.
Dr. Mary Chinery, is the Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Education and a professor of English at Georgian Court University. In 2016, she and scholar Laura Rattray unearthed Wharton’s unpublished script, The Shadow of a Doubt, at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.