''The Waverly Gallery'' is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It is considered a "

memory play A memory play is a play in which a lead character narrates the events of the play, which are drawn from the character's memory. The term was coined by playwright Tennessee Williams, describing his work ''The Glass Menagerie''. In his production note ...

". The show, first produced

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 ...

in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001.

Productions

The play opened

at the Promenade Theater on March 22, 2000 and closed on May 21, 2000. Directed by Scott Ellis, the play starred Eileen Heckart as Gladys Green and Josh Hamilton as Daniel.Brantley, Ben
"A Shattered Mind, Jagged and Confused"
''The New York Times'', March 23, 2000 The play originally premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, running from August 11, 1999 to August 22, 1999. Joanne Woodward filled in for an ailing Eileen Heckart in the final four performances. The play premiered on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on September 25, 2018 in previews, officially on October 25. The cast included: *

Elaine May Elaine Iva May (née Berlin; born April 21, 1932) is an American comedian, filmmaker, playwright, and actress. She has received numerous awards including an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and a Tony. She made her initial impact in the 1950s with her ...

as Gladys * Lucas Hedges as Daniel * Joan Allen as Ellen * Michael Cera as Don * David Cromer as Howard The revival was directed by

Lila Neugebauer Lila Neugebauer (; born 1985) is an American theatre director, writer and artistic director. She gained acclaim for her direction of the Broadway revival of Kenneth Lonergan's ''The Waverly Gallery'' in 2018. The play earned a Tony Award nominat ...

. The play closed on January 27, 2019 after 109 performances.

Plot

Gladys Green owns a small art gallery in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. She is in her 80s and showing signs of

. Don, a young artist, arrives for a showing of his work. The landlord wants to close the art gallery and replace it with a restaurant. How her family – daughter Ellen, son-in-law Howard and grandson Daniel – deals with her decline is told by the grandson. (The minor character of the landlord, onstage at the Williamstown production, was dropped for the Off-Broadway 2000 production. He was included in a later production at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2002.)

Critical reception

Charles Isherwood Charles Isherwood (born 1964/65) is an American theater critic. Education Isherwood is a graduate of Stanford University. Career Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of ''Variety'', where he was pr ...

in '' Variety'' said, "The life trauma being depicted has an inherent pathos, and in Lonergan's hands, no small amount of comic potential. And yet, while Lonergan mines his subject with delicacy and wit, he runs out of dramatic ore well before the evening's end." Ben Brantley 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 ...

'' called the play a "finely observed story of the predations of old age... tisn't so much a proper play as an essayistic memoir given dramatic form. It is nonetheless deeply theatrical. Mr. Lonergan ... has one of the keenest ears of any working playwright.... is also often deeply funny."

Awards and nominations

2000 Off-Broadway

''The Waverly Gallery'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001. Awards and Nominations: *The 2000

Drama Desk Awards 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. Fol ...

- Outstanding Actress (Heckart) - Winner *The 1999–2000

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 ...

- Performance (Heckart) - Winner *The 2000

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 ...

- Outstanding Actress (Heckart) - Winner *The 2000 Drama League Award - Distinguished Performance (Heckart) - Winner *The 2000

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 ...

, John Glassner Award (Lonergan) - Nominated

2018 Broadway revival

2019 Drama Desk Awards *Outstanding Revival of a Play - Winner *Outstanding Actress in a Play (

) - Winner

2019 Tony Awards The 73rd Annual Tony Awards were held on June 9, 2019, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2018–19 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and was broadcast live by CBS. James Corden served ...

McPhee, Ryan
"2019 Tony Award Nominations: 'Hadestown' and 'Ain't Too Proud' Lead the Pack"
Playbill, April 30, 2019 * Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play - Nominated * Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Elaine May) - Winner On June 9, 2019, May won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Gladys in the Broadway revival of Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery. She also received a Drama League Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. 6That same year, May's film A New Leaf was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 7

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waverley Gallery 2000 plays Plays by Kenneth Lonergan Plays set in New York City