''Hogan's Goat'' is a 1965 play by William Alfred. The blank-verse

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

concerns a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

al contest between

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

s in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, in 1890. The play's focus is on the personal life of Matthew Stanton, the dynamic leader of the Sixth Ward, who hopes to unseat corrupt

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Ned Quinn. Stanton's wife Kathleen fears campaign publicity will reveal that they never were married in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, a fact uncovered by Quinn, who also discovers Stanton was once the " kept man" (known as a "goat" in the

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

of the time) of Agnes Hogan, Quinn's ex-girlfriend who is now on her deathbed. Blinded by ruthless ambition, Stanton ignores Quinn's threats to reveal his past and forges ahead with the race, ultimately destroying not only his political career, but his marriage, as well. Directed by Frederick Rolf, the

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 ...

production opened for

the American Place Theatre The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, 423 West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tenness ...

on November 11, 1965, at the Theater at St. Clement's Church, then moved to the East 74th Street Theater – later called the Eastside Playhouse – completing a run of 607 performances. The original cast included Ralph Waite as Stanton,

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

as Kathleen, and Tom Ahearne as Quinn, with Cliff Gorman and Conrad Bain in supporting roles. Replacements later in the run included Barnard Hughes and

Richard Mulligan Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor. He was known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and '' Empty Nest'' (1988–1995). Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Aw ...

Alfred won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Best Playwright, and Dunaway and Mulligan earned the Theatre World Award for their performances. ''Hogan's Goat'' was reported to have been one of only two works that were discussed for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1966. Ahearne won the

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 ...

Production

Alfred drew influence for this play from his immigrant great grandmother's, Anna Maria Egan, experience. It took Alfred nine years to complete the play while he was a full time English professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 1970, Alfred co-wrote the book for a musical adaptation entitled '' Cry for Us All'', which was a critical and commercial failure, running for one week on Broadway. The following year, he wrote the teleplay for a

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

adaptation for the PBS series ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

''. Directed by Glenn Jordan, it starred Robert Foxworth as Stanton, Dunaway as Kathleen, and George Rose as Quinn, with Philip Bosco, Kevin Conway, and

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles on television sitcoms, including Maude (TV series)#Characters, Vivian Cavender Harmon on ''Maude (TV series), Maude'' (1972–78), ...

in supporting roles.

References

External links

''Hogan's Goat''
on the Internet Off-Broadway Database *{{IMDb title, 0067207 1965 plays 1971 television films 1971 films American television films 1971 drama films American films based on plays Brooklyn in fiction Irish-American mass media American plays adapted into films Plays set in New York City Fiction set in 1890

Production

References

Further reading

External links