''The Orphans' Home Cycle'' is a 3-play drama written by
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...
. Each of the three plays in the trilogy comprises three one-act plays. They are ''The Story of a Childhood'' (Part 1), ''The Story of a Marriage'' (Part 2), and ''The Story of a Family'' (Part 3).
The plays focus on Horace Robedaux, whose character was inspired by Foote's father, from Texas, at the turn of the 20th Century to the beginning of
the Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
. The plays follow Horace through three decades, as "seen through three generations of three families."
Productions
Most of the individual plays had been produced previously, either on stage, in film, or for television. Hartford Stage and the
Signature Theatre Company
Signature Theatre Company is an American theatre based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans. Signature is known for their season-long focus on one artist's work. It has be ...
co-produced the cycle. Foote said "It's incredibly moving to see all of these plays from my years of writing come together into the theatrical cycle that I've always envisioned."
The cycle was produced at the Hartford Stage,
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, in September 2009 through October 2009. The cycle ran in repertory
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 ...
at the Signature Theatre Company from November 19, 2009 (Part 1), December 17, (Part 2), and January 26, (Part 3) through May 8, 2010. They (collectively) won the
Lucille Lortel Award
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...
for Outstanding Play.
The director was
Michael Wilson, sets by Jeff Cowie and David M. Barber, and costumes by David C. Woolard. An original score was composed by
John Gromada
John Gromada (born February 22, 1964) is a prolific, award-winning composer and sound designer. He is best known for his many scores for theatrical productions in New York on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres. Broadway plays he has scored i ...
. The cast included
Bill Heck
Bill Heck is an American actor who has appeared on Broadway and in television shows, such as '' The Leftovers'' and '' The Old Man'', and films, including in the role of Billy Knapp in the Coen Brothers' western ''The Ballad of Buster Scruggs''.
...
, Maggie Lacey,
Annalee Jefferies
Annalee Jefferies is an American stage actress.
Early years
Jefferies' father was a ranch manager, and her mother was artistically inclined. She lived in Texas her first 11 years, then moved with her family to Australia. They returned to the Un ...
,
Emily Robinson
Emily Robinson (born October 18, 1998) is an American actress, director and producer.
Biography
Robinson began her career modeling at age six after her neighbor introduced her to Ford Models who then represented her. At the age of seven, Robin ...
,
Hallie Foote
Barbara Hallie Foote (born March 31, 1950) is an American actress.
Life and career
Born Barbara Hallie Foote in Manhattan, the daughter of Lillian Vallish Foote and writer and director Horton Foote, she was raised in Nyack, New York and New Hamps ...
,
Pamela Payton-Wright
Pamela Payton-Wright (November 1, 1941 – December 14, 2019) was an American actress.
Life and work
Payton-Wright was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eleanor Ruth (née McKinley) and Gordon Edgar Payton-Wright. After graduati ...
, and
Dylan Riley Snyder
Dylan Riley Jacob Snyder (born January 24, 1997) is an American actor, filmmaker, and Twitch streamer. Beginning his acting career in community theatre at the age of five, Snyder is known for his acting, singing, and dancing abilities, starring ...
.
In April 2016,
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
's Theatre Department put on the first ever consecutive reading of all nine plays in the cycle, bookending its full-fledged production of ''Story of a Marriage''. Horton Foote had a long relationship with Baylor's Department of Theatre Arts and was a good friend of Dr. Marion Castleberry, a graduate professor at the University and Foote's biographer as well as director of the Cycle.
The plays
;Part 1, ''The Story of a Childhood'', 1902-1911
Act 1: ''Roots in a Parched Ground'', 1902-1903; Act 2: ''Convicts'', 1904; Act 3 ''Lily Dale'', 1911.
*''Roots in a Parched Ground'' was first presented on the television show "
DuPont Show of the Month
''DuPont Show of the Month'' was a 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology series hosted by June Allyson, ''The DuPont Show with Jun ...
", in 1962 under the title ''The Night of the Storm''. The cast featured
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
as Julia,
E. G. Marshall
E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...
as Jim Howard, and
Mildred Dunnock
Mildred Dorothy Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American stage and screen actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award: first ''Death of a Salesman'' in 1951, then ''Baby Doll'' in 1956.
Early life
Born in Baltimore, ...
as Grandma Robedaux.
* ''Convicts'' was made into a film and released in 1991, with
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...
as Soll Gautier and
Lukas Haas
Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions.
Early life
...
as Horace Robedaux.
*''Lily Dale'' ran off-Broadway at the Samuel Beckett Theatre from November 20, 1986 to February 15, 1987. The cast featured
Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an or ...
as Lily, later replaced by
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films ''At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ''Benny & Jo ...
. It was also televised in the "
Hallmark Hall of Fame
''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in t ...
" series in 1996, with Masterson as Lily.
;Part 2, ''The Story of a Marriage'', 1912–1917
Act 1: ''The Widow Claire''; Act 2: ''Courtship''; Act 3: ''Valentine's Day''
*''The Widow Claire'' was produced off-Broadway at the
Circle in the Square
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...
Theatre from December 17, 1986 to April 26, 1987, with
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...
as Horace Robedaux and Hallie Foote as Widow Claire.
*''Courtship'' was filmed in 1987 with William Converse-Roberts as Horace Robedaux.
*''Valentine's Day'' was filmed and released in 1986 with Matthew Broderick as Brother, William Converse-Roberts as Horace Robedaux, and Hallie Foote as Elizabeth Robedaux.
;Part 3, ''The Story of a Family'', 1918 to 1928
Act 1: ''1918''; Act 2: ''Cousins''; Act 3: ''The Death of Papa''.
*''1918'' was produced in the 1990–91 season at the
American Conservatory Theater
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school.
History
The Ameri ...
, San Francisco, California.
*''Cousins'' was first produced in 1983 at the Loft Theatre, Los Angeles, California.
[List and chronology of Foote works]
curtainup.com, retrieved May 18, 2010
* ''Death of Papa'' premiered in 1997 at the Playmakers' Repertory Company,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...
, with Matthew Broderick and
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
. It was produced by the Hartford Stage in June 1999 with
Frankie Muniz
Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award n ...
as Horace Robedaux Jr., Hallie Foote as Elizabeth Robedaux, and
Dana Ivey
Dana Robins Ivey (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both ''Sex and Longing' ...
as Mary Vaughn.
Critical response
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...
in ''
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 ...
'' wrote of ''The Story of a Marriage'' that they "are both the starkest and most sentimental of this lovingly painted life-and-times portrait."
John Simon called the cycle "absorbing and uplifting", and noted that it was "suffused with Foote’s almost uncanny humanity in portraying besetting hardships and hard-won victories, disheartening letdowns and dogged loyalties. Foote has a smiling empathy with all people."
Awards and nominations
;
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 ...
*Special Award, To the cast, creative team and producers of Horton Foote’s epic The Orphans' Home Cycle (winner)
*Outstanding Actor in a Play, Bill Heck (nominee)
;
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...
*Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play (winner)
*Outstanding Director of a Play, Michael Wilson (winner)
*Outstanding Actor in a Play, Bill Heck (nominee)
*Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, James DeMarse (nominee)
*Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play,
Hallie Foote
Barbara Hallie Foote (born March 31, 1950) is an American actress.
Life and career
Born Barbara Hallie Foote in Manhattan, the daughter of Lillian Vallish Foote and writer and director Horton Foote, she was raised in Nyack, New York and New Hamps ...
(nominee)
;
New York Drama Critics' Circle
The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...
[Gans, Andre]
"New York Drama Critics' Circle Names Orphans' Home Cycle Best Play"
playbill.com, April 30, 2010
*Best Play (winner)
American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Award for Design "Notable Effects- for outstanding Production Design", David M. Barber, Jeff Cowie, David Woolard, Rui Rita, John Gromada, Jan Hartley (winners)
References
External links
Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, Part 1Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, Part 2Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, Part 3Original Score at iTunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orphans' Home Cycle
2009 plays
Off-Broadway plays
Plays set in Texas
Plays set in the 1900s
Plays set in the 1910s
Plays set in the 1920s
Plays by Horton Foote
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners