''The Indian Wants the Bronx'' is a one-act play by

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

. Gupta, the Indian of the title, has just arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from his native country to visit his son and speaks only a few words of English. While waiting for a bus to

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, he is approached by two young punks, Joey and Murph, who begin teasing him. Name-calling taunts eventually result in acts of rage and violence. The play premiered 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 3,074 ...

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...

and

John Cazale John Holland Cazale (; August 12, 1935 – March 13, 1978) was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years, all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: ''The Godfather'' (1972), ''The Conversation'' (197 ...

starred; it was the first of six collaborations between them. Cazale was cast after the original actor, an Indian, was judged not to be able to handle the role. Horovitz later wrote on the subject, "True, John's Italian, not Hindu… from Winchester, Massachusetts, not Delhi. But it's also true that John Cazale is a fine, sensitive actor."SAADA
The Indian Wants the Bronx
''South Asian American Digital Archive''. Mar 24, 2016. The play was staged in conjunction with the

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

's ''It's Called the Sugar Plum'' by

James Hammerstein James Blanchard Hammerstein (March 23, 1931 – January 7, 1999) was an American theatre director and producer. Life and career Hammerstein was the son of interior designer Dorothy Hammerstein (née Blanchard) and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II ...

as the opening production of the new

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 ...

Astor Place Theatre The Astor Place Theatre is an off-Broadway house located at 434 Lafayette Street in the NoHo section of Manhattan. The theater is located in the historic Colonnade Row, originally constructed in 1831 as a series of nine connected buildings, of w ...

, where it opened on January 17, 1968 and ran for 177 performances. The cast included

Marsha Mason Marsha Mason (born April 3, 1942) is an American actress and director. She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress: for her performances in ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973), ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977), '' Chapter Two'' ...

, and

Matthew Cowles Matthew Cowles (September 28, 1944 – May 22, 2014) was an American actor and playwright. Early life The son of actor and theatre producer Chandler Cowles, he was born in New York City. Career In 1966 Cowles played the title role in Edward Al ...

. It won the

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for Best Play, Best Actor (Pacino), and Best Supporting Actor (Cazale). In 1976, the play was mounted by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

theatre company Steppenwolf as part of its first full season. The production was directed by

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

and starred

Terry Kinney Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as E ...

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a st ...

, and H.E. Baccus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Wants The Brox, The 1966 plays Plays by Israel Horovitz Obie Award-winning plays One-act plays Plays set in New York City Plays about race and ethnicity