The Waverly Gallery
by Kenneth Lonergan
The Waverly Gallery is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It is considered a “memory play”. The show, first produced Off-Broadway in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer’s disease. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001.
Productions
The Waverly Gallery originally premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in August 1999, before opening Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theater in March 22, 2000 and closed on May 21, 2000. Directed by Scott Ellis, the play starred Eileen Heckart as Gladys Green and Josh Hamilton as Daniel.[1][2] The play originally premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, running from August 11, 1999 to August 22, 1999. Joanne Woodward filled in for an ailing Eileen Heckart in the final four performances.[3]
The play will premiere on Broadway in fall 2018 in a production starring Elaine May, Michael Cera, and Lucas Hedges.[4]
Reception
Charles Isherwood of Variety said, “The life trauma being depicted has an inherent pathos, and in Lonergan’s hands, no small amount of comic potential. And yet, while Lonergran mines his subject with delicacy and wit, he runs out of dramatic ore well before the evening’s end.”[5]
Story
A powerfully poignant and often hilarious play, The Waverly Gallery is about the final years of a generous, chatty, and feisty grandmother’s final battle against Alzheimer’s disease. Gladys is an old-school lefty and social activist and long time owner of a small art gallery in Greenwich Village. The play explores her fight to retain her independence and the subsequent effect of her decline on her family, especially her grandson. More than a memory play, The Waverly Gallery captures the humour and strength of a family in the face of crisis.
Awards and Nominations
The Waverly Gallery was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001.[6]
The play won the 2000 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress (Heckart); the 1999-2000 Obie Award, Performance (Heckart); the 2000 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Actress (Heckart); and the 2000 Drama League Award, Distinguished Performance (Heckart). It was nominated for the 2000 Outer Critics Circle Award, John Glassner Award (Lonergan).[7]
Broadway 2018 Cast
Elaine May
Lucas Hedges
Joan Allen
Michael Cera
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
References
- Brantley, Ben. “A Shattered Mind, Jagged and Confused” The New York Times, March 23, 2000
- Simonson, Robert. ” ‘Waverly Gallery’, Eileen Heckart, Take Their Final Exit, May 21″ playbill.com, May 21, 2000
- Simonson, Robert.“Woodward Subbed for Heckart at Lonergan’s Williamstown Gallery” playbill.com, August 24, 1999
- Evans, Greg (April 11, 2018). “Elaine May, Lucas Hedges & Michael Cera To Star In Broadway Premiere Of Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘The Waverly Gallery'”. Deadline. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit, Michigan: Gale. 2005. ISBN 978-0-7876-3995-2.
- “Pulitzer Prize for Drama” pulitzer.org, accessed September 14, 2014
- “Listing” Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed September 11, 2014
