''Dividing the Estate'' is a play 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 ...

. The play premiered at the

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg. ...

in 1989 and Off-Broadway in 2007, winning the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

Overview

Set in the fictional town of Harrison, Texas, in 1987, it focuses on the Gordons, a clan of malcontents ruled by octogenarian matriarch Stella that must prepare for an uncertain future when plunging real estate values and an unexpected tax bill have a negative impact on the family fortune. Stella's children - predatory Mary Jo, complacent Lucille, and alcoholic Lewis - engage in a debate about whether or not they should divide the estate while their mother is still alive in order to ensure themselves financial independence.

Productions

The play premiered at the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1989.Review
''Variety'', September 27, 2007 Presented by Primary Stages Theater, it opened on September 27, 2007 at the Off-Broadway 59E59 Theaters, where it ran until October 27. Directed by Michael Wilson, the cast included

Elizabeth Ashley Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for '' Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashle ...

as Stella,

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 ...

as Mary Jo,

Penny Fuller A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

as Lucille, and

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows '' Simon & Simon'', ''Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and '' House of Cards''. He currently stars ...

as Lewis. Horton Foote won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the Obie Award for Playwriting. The production transferred to

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 ...

for a limited engagement with its original cast presented by the Lincoln Center Theater Company and Primary Stages Theater. It began previews at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

on October 23, 2008, officially opened on November 20, and closed on January 4, 2009 after 50 performances and 31 previews.

Critical response

In his review 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 d ...

'',

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 ...

called the play "deeply funny" and stated, "Mr. Foote's authorial gaze is focused with satiric sharpness while retaining its elegiac sense of life's transience." David Rooney of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' thought it was "distinctly old-fashioned . . . with an air of familiarity" but added, "Spend time with Foote's richly human characters and concerns about the play's dustiness quickly fade. The Chekhovian intrusion of past upon present, the melancholy acknowledgement of a world in decline, the gentle but tart humor, the clear-eyed compassion tinged with despair - these qualities remind us why the 91-year-old playwright remains such a distinctively expressive voice in contemporary American drama." Joe Dziemianowicz of the '' New York Daily News'' said the play "goes for laughs and succeeds, and at the same time comments on more sweeping notions of avarice, entitlement and carpetbagging karma. It's not as profound or ambitious as Broadway's other multigenerational melee, '' August: Osage County'', but Foote's fine play does go down easy." In ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', Elysa Gardner observed, "The folks we meet in ''Estate'' . . . can be immensely irritating, but they're not, well, bad people — or, truth be told, terribly interesting ones."Gardner, Elysa
"Dividing the Estate"
''USA Today'', November 20, 2008

Awards and nominations

2009 Tony Awards: * Best Play (nominated) * Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play,

(nominated)

References

External links

''Dividing the Estate'' at Lincoln Center Theater
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dividing The Estate 1989 plays Comedy plays Plays by Horton Foote Off-Broadway plays Broadway plays Plays set in Texas Fiction set in 1987