''Sweet Sue'' is a play by

A. R. Gurney Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright, novelist and academic. He is known for works including '' The Dining Room'' (1982), '' Sweet Sue'' (1986/7), and '' T ...

. It premiered at the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

and later enjoyed a

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 ...

production at the

Music Box Theatre The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, the Music Box Theatre was designed by C. Howard Crane in a Palladian-inspir ...

during the 1986-87 season.

Characters

The play requires four actors for its two characters, Susan Weatherhill, a repressed and uncertain woman in her late forties, and Jake, a young man who is the college roommate of Susan's son. Each of these characters is played simultaneously by two actors, who give expression to the characters' internal tensions and ambivalence. The script refers to them as: "Susan", "Susan Too", "Jake", and "Jake Too". This technique of dividing a single character between two actors is not unique to ''Sweet Sue''; it can also be found in ''Overtones'' (1913 and 1929) by

Alice Gerstenberg Alice Erya Gerstenberg (2 August 1885 – 28 July 1972) was an American playwright, actress, and activist best known for her experimental, feminist drama and her involvement with the Little Theatre Movement in Chicago. Background Gerstenberg w ...

, ''

Getting Out ''Getting Out'' is a play by Marsha Norman. The play was produced at the Marymount Manhattan Theatre in October 1978 and then Off-Broadway in May 1979. The play concerns a female prisoner just released from prison, who returns to her home in Ke ...

'' (1979) by

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as '' T ...

, and '' Passion'' (1981) by Peter Nichols. Here, Gurney uses it to create an atmosphere of light

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

, punctuated by moments of unease.

Analysis

Gurney has explained that the play was initially meant to be a modern treatment of the classical tale of

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting Film * ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...

and her desire for a younger man, but turned into a summer romance, with Susan's struggling with problems of self-esteem, artistic integrity, and sexual attraction to a man young enough to be her son. Reviewers tended to dismiss the play as superficial and far from Gurney's best, but it ran for six months on Broadway, due in part to the casting of the two Sues with the popular actors

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whi ...

and

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. B ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Sue Plays by A. R. Gurney Broadway plays 1986 plays