Full Gallop

Amphibian Stage Productions‘ reading (not a full production) of Mark Hampton and Mary Louise Wilson’s play Full Gallop was done at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth today.  The play is about Diana Vreeland, shortly after she was fired as fashion editor of Vogue, and it’s based on her memoirs.  It portrays a woman in her 70s who was used to a life of high society luxury who suddenly finds herself without material resources.  Her family and friends are trying to help by getting her a job in a museum, which she views as a way of putting her aside in a safe place out of the limelight that she was used to and loved.  The play takes place in just a few hours, during which she is planning a dinner party and talking with friends and family on the phone.  She has an assistant with her, but this is basically a one person play.  Anne-Lynn Kettles played the part of Diana and Judy Norman read stage directions and played the assistant, Yvonne.  Kettles knew the role very well and was able to do most of it without the script.  The play is quite funny and I very much enjoyed the reading; so did the rest of the audience.