''The House of Blue Leaves'' is a play by American playwright

John Guare John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman ...

which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play and the Obie Award for Best American Play in 1971. The play is set in 1965, when

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

visited New York City.

Overview

The play is set in Sunnyside,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York, in 1965, on the day

visited. The

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

focuses on Artie Shaughnessy, a

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

who dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a songwriter. Artie wants to take his girlfriend Bunny with him to Hollywood. His wife Bananas is a

schizophrenic Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdr ...

and destined for the institution that provides the play's title. Their son Ronnie, a GI scheduled for deployment to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, has gone

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

. Three nuns are eager to see the pope and end up in Artie's apartment. A political bombing mistakenly occurs in the apartment.

Productions

The first act of ''The House of Blue Leaves'' was first staged in 1966 at the

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Awa ...

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,571 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) and had a population of 3,07 ...

. According to Jane Kathleen Curry, (Assistant Professor of Theater at Wake Forest University) Guare "rewrote the second act many times and attributes part of his difficulty to his lack of technical skill in writing for a large number of characters in a full-length play." ''The House of Blue Leaves'' opened on February 10, 1971 Off-Broadway at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre, where it ran for 337 performances. Directed by

Mel Shapiro Mel Shapiro is an American theatre director and writer, college professor, and author. Trained at Carnegie-Mellon University, Shapiro began his professional directing career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and then as resident director at Arena Stage i ...

, the cast included

Frank Converse Frank Converse (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor. Early life Converse was born in 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in ...

Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...

Katherine Helmond Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) was an American actress. Over her five decades of television acting, she was known for her starring role as Jessica Tate on the sitcom ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as ...

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in '' Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

Anne Meara Anne Meara Stiller (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer ...

and Robert Burton. A revival directed by

Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing ''The House of Blue Leaves'', ''Lend Me a Tenor'', and ''Six Degre ...

was staged Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, opening on March 19, 1986, then transferring to Broadway at the

Vivian Beaumont Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Bro ...

on April 29, 1986, where it played five months before transferring again to the Plymouth Theatre on October 14, 1986, closing on March 15, 1987, for a total run of 398 performances. The Off-Broadway cast included

Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz ( ; born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. She is the recipient of an Emmy Award and two Tony Awards. Kurtz made her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of '' Ah, Wilderness''. She has received five Tony Award nominations ...

(Bananas),

John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-born American actor. He was known for playing Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' (1993–2004), and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role in 2000. Mahone ...

(Artie), Stockard Channing (Bunny), Christopher Walken (Billy),

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

(Ronnie, in his stage debut), and

Julie Hagerty Julie Beth Hagerty (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress. She starred as Elaine in the films ''Airplane!'' (1980) and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982). Her other film roles include ''A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'' (1982), ''Lost in Am ...

(Corrinna). Danny Aiello replaced Walken as Billy when the production moved to Broadway. Christine Baranski joined the production on June 24, 1986, as Bunny, and

Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades in ...

joined the production on June 3, 1986, as Corrinna. It won the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It honors the Broadway theatre, Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, or legitimate not-for-profit ...

. It was also nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...

. A 2011

revival was staged by

David Cromer David Cromer (born October 17, 1964) is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous a ...

at the

Walter Kerr Theatre The Walter Kerr Theatre, previously the Ritz Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 219 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shube ...

. Starring

(Artie),

Edie Falco Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Carmela Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), and Nurse Jackie Peyton on the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015). She also ...

(Bananas), Christopher Abbott (Ronnie), and

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough as Stacy Hamilton in '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). Sh ...

(Bunny), the production began previews on April 4, opening on April 15 for a limited 16-week engagement.

Television

Directed by

Kirk Browning Kirk Browning (March 28, 1921 – February 10, 2008) was an American television director and producer who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of '' Live from Lincoln Center''. Born in New York City, Browning drop ...

and

, the play was staged at the Plymouth Theatre in 1987 with

, Christine Baranski, and

specifically for a broadcast on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

''. The telefilm was broadcast in May 1987. The film adaptation was shot before an audience, with minicams.

Critical reception

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, '' The New York Post.'' Barnes had sig ...

, in his review of the 1971 Off-Broadway production for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote: "You will have noticed, I presume, that comedy has taken on a hysterical edge. The laughter is manic, and the world is awry. Few worlds are more awry than John Guare's, whose play, 'The House of Blue Leaves,' opened last night at the Truck and Warehouse Theater. Mr. Guare's play is mad, funny, at times very funny, and sprawling." The ''Variety'' reviewer of the 2011 revival wrote: "Guare’s iconic play not only holds up, it still sets the bar for smart comic lunacy.... Guare is famous for the zany plots that illustrate his surreal visions of what passes for modern civilization.... But the key to the play lies beyond these apartment walls, in the broader framework of the unsettled period of the mid-Sixties, when America was still reeling from the assassination of JFK and just becoming aware of what was going on in Vietnam."Stasio, Marilyn
"Review: ‘The House of Blue Leaves’"
''Variety'', April 25, 2011

Awards and nominations

1971 production

* Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play (winner) * Obie Award for Best American Play (winner) *

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 Aug ...

, Katherine Helmond (winner)

1986 production

(nomination) *Tony Award Best Direction of a Play, Jerry Zaks (winner) *Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Play,

(winner) *Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play :Swoosie Kurtz (winner) :Stockard Channing (nominee) *Tony Award Best Scenic Design, Tony Walton (winner) *Tony Award Best Costume Design,

Ann Roth Ann Bishop Roth (born October 30, 1931) is an American costume designer. She has designed the costumes of various prominent films, and has been nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, winning twice for; ''The English Pa ...

(nominee) *Tony Award Best Lighting Design,

Paul Gallo Paul Gallo (born February 24, 1953) is an American theatrical lighting designer. In a career that spans over 4 decades, Gallo has designed over 52 Broadway productions, an achievement matched by only 8 other lighting designers. He made his Br ...

(nominee) *

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

, Julie Hagerty (winner) *

(winner) *Drama Desk, Outstanding Set Design, Tony Walton (winner) *Drama Desk, Outstanding Director, Jarry Zaks (winner) *Obie Award, Best Performance, Swoosie Kurtz (winner) *Clarence Derwent Award, John Mahoney (winner) *Henry Hewes Design Award, Tony Walton (winner)

2011 production

*Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play –

(nominee)

References

External links

* * * *
Working in the Theatre: ''The House of Blue Leaves''
panel discussion featuring the creators of the 1986 production (90 minutes, streaming video) {{DEFAULTSORT:House of Blue Leaves, The American plays adapted into films Off-Broadway plays Broadway plays West End plays Plays by John Guare Obie Award-winning plays Tony Award-winning plays Drama Desk Award-winning plays Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning works 1966 plays Queens, New York, in fiction Fiction set in 1965 Comedy plays Plays set in New York City Plays set in the 1960s