''Witness'' is a one-act play by
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter.
Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...
which opened
Off-Broadway at the
Gramercy Arts Theatre on November 21, 1968,
and closed on January 26, 1969.
[Page.436]
Production
''Witness'' premiered Off-Broadway at the Gramercy Arts Theatre in 1968. It starred
James Coco
James Emil Coco (March 21, 1930 – February 25, 1987) was an American stage and screen actor. He was the recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award and three Obie Awards, as well as nominations for a Tony Award, an Academy Award a ...
,
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland (born October 31, 1941) is an American film, television and stage actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 fi ...
, Richard Marr, and Joe Ponazecki, and was paired with another McNally play, ''
Sweet Eros''. The production ran through January 26, 1969.
''Witness'' is one of McNally's earlier plays and received mixed reviews.
[Zinman, Toby Silverman]
''Terrence McNally, A Casebook'', Edited by Toby Silverman Zinman, Taylor & Francis, 1997, p. 30
/ref>
Overview
The play depicts a man who is planning to assassinate the President of the United States from the window of a building, all the while keeping a gagged and bound victim as a witness to his sanity.
/ref> One of the play's major themes is loneliness.[
]
References
Further reading
* Terrence McNally : 15 short plays, Terrence McNally, Smith and Kraus, Lyme, NH, c1994,
External links
Witness
at the Internet off-Broadway Database
The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.
The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundatio ...
Plays by Terrence McNally
1968 plays
One-act plays
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