''The Glory of Living'' is a 1996 play by Rebecca Gilman. The play received its first production at the

Circle Theatre Chicago Circle Theatre Chicago founded in 1985 by Wayne Buidens, Joe Bass, and Karen Skinner is a theatre company in Oak Park and Chicago, Illinois. They chose the name "Circle Theatre" to represent both Circle Avenue (Forest Park's main thoroughfare) a ...

in Forest Park, Illinois. The play has won several awards and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Plot

The play opens with the main characters Lisa and Clint meeting for the first time. Clint has accompanied a friend to Lisa and her mother's

mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...

to see Lisa's mother, a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

. Clint picks up on Lisa's unease about her mother's situation and begins charming her. The next scene opens a few years later and Clint and Lisa have married and have twins who are being cared for by Clint's mother. The couple has been living in a series of motel rooms and are playing a scam whereby Lisa lures young girls into the room where Clint rapes and abuses them. Afterwards, Lisa

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

s the girls and disposes of their bodies. Plagued with guilt, Lisa calls the police with anonymous tips on the location of the bodies. Act I concludes with the couple's arrest. Act II deals primarily with the couple's punishments but focuses on Lisa and her motives for her actions. The audience is shown that Lisa has not been able to emotionally mature and that has led her to live the life she has lived.

Notable productions

, December 1996 - world premiere. Directed by Robin Stanton. * Royal Court Theatre, London, 1999. Directed by Kathryn Hunter *

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, MCC Theater production, October 30, 2001 to December 2, 2001. Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman with Anna Paquin as Lisa and Jeffrey Donovan as Clint and David Aaron Baker as Carl. * Dublin July 2005 produced by AboutFACE Theatre Company at Project Arts Centre and at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght. Directed by Erin Murray.

Awards and recognition

*Finalist for the 2002

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in Drama"Pulitzer Prizes Listing of Finalists and Winners"
pulitzer.org, accessed May 20, 2015 *

Joseph Jefferson Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedia ...

Citation for Best Play in Chicago. * American Theatre Critics Association's

Osborn Award for Best New American Play Osborn may refer to: * Osborn (surname) * Osborn Engineering, American architectural and engineering firm * Osborn Engineering Company, British motorcycle manufacturer * Osborn wave, an abnormal electrocardiogram finding Places in the United Stat ...

. * 2002

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

: ** Outstanding Actress (Play), Anna Paquin (nominee) ** Outstanding Sound Design, David Van Tieghem (nominee)

References

External links

*
The Complete Review
June 2, 2006, by Celia Wren, The Glory of Living': Running on Empty in America'', Didactic Theatre Company production {{DEFAULTSORT:Glory of Living Plays by Rebecca Gilman 1996 plays Forest Park, Illinois