| Significant Other | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Joshua Harmon |
| Characters | 7 |
| Date premiered | 2015 Off-Broadway; 2017 Broadway |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy / Drama |
| Setting | Present-day New York City |
| Official site | |
Significant Other is an American play written by Joshua Harmon, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2015, followed by a Broadway production at the Booth Theatre in Spring 2017.
The play was produced Off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the Laura Pels Theatre. [1] The play premiered on May 16, 2015, in previews, officially on June 18, and closed on August 16, 2015. [2] [3] Directed by Trip Cullman, the cast featured Gideon Glick as Jordan, with John Behlmann, Sas Goldberg, Lindsay Mendez, Carra Paterson, Luke Smith, and Academy Award nominee Barbara Barrie, in her return to the stage at age 84. [4] [5]
The play transferred to Broadway on February 14, 2017 (which the production billed as "Singles Awareness Day"), and it officially opened on March 2 at the Booth Theatre. [6] The Off-Broadway cast and creative team remained intact, with Rebecca Naomi Jones replacing Carra Paterson in the role of Vanessa. It marked the Broadway debuts for both playwright Harmon and director Cullman. [7] [8] The production ended its limited Broadway engagement on April 23, 2017, after a run of 79 performances. The Broadway production was filmed by New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive. [9] The production team included: Scenic Design by Mark Wendland, Costume Design by Kaye Voyce, Lighting Design by Japhy Weideman, and Sound Design by Daniel Kluger.
The production was staged at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa with the following cast: Gabriel Meltz, Dominique Maher, Lesoko Seabe, Lucy Tops, Michèle Maxwell, Roberto Kyle and Ryan de Villiers. The production was directed by Greg Karvellas
The play is currently licensed to professional and amateur theaters through Samuel French. [10] Prior to its Broadway run, it was produced by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, Massachusetts, from September to October 2016. [11] Harmon's previous play, the comedy Bad Jews, was one of the most-produced plays in America in the 2014–2015 season. [12]
The play concerns the lives of four friends in their late 20s and their search for relationships in 21st century New York City. Playwright Joshua Harmon explained the premise by saying: “How do you make life work for yourself when you feel that you’re not living the life you’re supposed to be living or want to be living? And how do you deal with that when the changes that you need to make are in some ways outside of your control?” [11]
The New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood gave the play a rave review in its Off-Broadway premiere, calling it "an absolutely wonderful new play. Entirely delightful, richly funny and heart-stirring." [13] The play was included in The New York Times Top Ten Productions of 2015. [14]
The CurtainUp reviewer wrote "Harmon has once again proved himself to be a wonderful wordsmith and astute chronicler of the quandaries faced by the millenial[sic] generation." [4]
When reviewing a November 2017 production of the play produced by About Face Theatre Company in Chicago, Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones wrote, "Significant Other is both a good night out — a show ideal for a Friday night with pals after a few drinks — and a quite sophisticated exploration of the complex and changing dynamic between gay men and the women who love them. A black comedy about a painful transition that hits many of us urbanites in our late 20s or early 30s and goes a long way toward explaining why weddings can be such fraught affairs for anyone stuck in a tux or matching crinoline." [15]
Will Eno is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, Thom Pain was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play The Realistic Joneses appeared on Broadway in 2014, where it received a Drama Desk Special Award and was named Best Play on Broadway by USA Today, and best American play of 2014 by The Guardian. His play The Open House was presented Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre in 2014 and won the Obie Award for Playwriting as well as other awards, and was on both TIME Magazine and Time Out New York 's Top Ten Plays of 2014.
Max von Essen is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist.
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.
Gideon Glick is an American actor. His Broadway work includes originating the roles of Ernst in the musical Spring Awakening, Jimmy-6 in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Jordan Berman in Significant Other, and Dill Harris in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he was nominated for the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
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Joshua Harmon is a New York City-based playwright, whose works include Bad Jews and Significant Other, both produced Off-Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company.
Bad Jews is a dark comedy play by Joshua Harmon. After a beloved grandfather dies in New York, leaving a treasured piece of religious jewelry that he succeeded in hiding even from the Nazis during the Holocaust, cousins fight over not only the family heirloom, but their "religious faith, cultural assimilation, and even the validity of each other's romances."
Eclipsed is a play written by Danai Gurira. It takes place in 2003 and tells the story of five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War. It became the first play with an all-black and female creative cast and team to premiere on Broadway.
The Humans is a one-act play written by Stephen Karam. The play opened on Broadway in 2016 after an engagement Off-Broadway in 2015. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.
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Nell Benjamin is a lyricist, writer, and composer noted for her work in musical theatre. With her husband and frequent collaborator Laurence O'Keefe, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for writing Legally Blonde in 2011. And in 2007, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Legally Blonde, and then again in 2018 for her lyrics for Mean Girls.