The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures

Last updated

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures is a 2009 play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The title was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures . [1]

Contents

Production history

The premiere was directed by Michael Greif at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, opening on May 15, 2009, in previews and running through June 28. [2]

The Public Theater and the Signature Theater Company co-produced a somewhat rewritten version of the play, which premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater on March 23, 2011 in previews, with opening on May 5 and closing on June 12. The play was directed by Michael Greif and featured Michael Cristofer, Linda Emond, Michael Esper and Stephen Spinella. [3] [4]

Berkeley Repertory Theatre presented the play's West Coast premiere starting in May 2014. Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone directed, and actors included Mark Margolis as Gus, Deirdre Lovejoy as Empty, and Lou Liberatore as Pill. [5]

The play received its London premiere in October 2016 at the Hampstead Theatre in a production directed by Michael Boyd and starring David Calder as Gus, and Tamsin Greig as Empty.

Plot

The play looks at the life of a 20th-century thinker, retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio, who is feeling confused and defeated by the 21st century. In summer 2007, his sister, who has been staying with him for a year, invites Gus's three children (who in turn bring along spouses, ex-spouses, lovers and more) to a most unusual family reunion in their Brooklyn brownstone. [2]

Original Guthrie Theater cast

[1]

London premiere cast

Hampstead Theatre - October 2016

Early reception

According to an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press , only local critics were encouraged to review the play. National critics like Ben Brantley of The New York Times , who was originally invited to review the play, were asked to wait for a future production. [6] The reviews that have been published have been somewhat mixed, acknowledging that the play is in early stages, while praising many of its positive moments. The Star Tribune ran a review stating "The lines sound great in the actors' mouths, their performances are excellent and Greif dances this show across the Guthrie stage with humor and muscular strokes. It is a very American work - a dense rush of ideas." While going on to observe that the "operatic cacophony at times skates precipitously close to the razor's edge of incoherence." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Kushner</span> American playwright and screenwriter (born 1956)

Anthony Robert Kushner is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage, he is most known for his seminal work Angels in America, which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaimed HBO miniseries of the same name. At the turn of the 21st century, he became known for his numerous film collaborations with Steven Spielberg. He received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013. Kushner is among the few playwrights in history nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

<i>Angels in America</i> 1993 Pulitzer Prize–winning play by Tony Kushner

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a 1991 American two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, may be presented separately. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Part one of the play premiered in 1991, followed by part two in 1992. Its Broadway opening was in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamsin Greig</span> British actress (born 1966)

Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig is a British actress. She is known for both dramatic and comedic roles. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing, Beverly Lincoln in British-American sitcom Episodes and Jackie Goodman in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. Other roles include Alice Chenery in BBC One's comedy-drama series Love Soup, Debbie Aldridge in BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers, Miss Bates in the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma, and Beth Hardiment in the 2010 film version of Tamara Drewe. In 2020, Greig starred as Anne Trenchard in Julian Fellowes' ITV series Belgravia.

A Bright Room Called Day is a play by American playwright Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America.

Michael Wilson is an American stage and screen director working extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at the nation's leading resident theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Calder (actor)</span> British actor

David Ian Calder is an English actor.

Stephen Spinella is an American stage, television, and film actor.

<i>Caroline, or Change</i> Musical by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner

Caroline, or Change is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Cristofer</span> American actor and director

Michael Cristofer is an American actor, playwright and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for The Shadow Box in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip Price in the television series Mr. Robot.

David Esbjornson is a director and producer who has worked throughout the United States in regional theatres and on Broadway, and has established strong and productive relationships with some of the profession's top playwrights, actors, and companies. Esbjornson was the artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre in Seattle, Washington, but left that position in summer 2008.

Margaret Francesca Ramsay was an Australian-born British theatrical agent.

<i>The Little Dog Laughed</i> 2006 comedy play by Douglas Carter Beane

The Little Dog Laughed is a 2006 American comedy play by Douglas Carter Beane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Emond</span> American actress (born 1959)

Linda Marie Emond is an American stage, film, and television actress. Emond has received three Tony Award nominations for her performances in Life (x) 3 (2003), Death of a Salesman (2012), and Cabaret (2014).

The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following is a chronological list of the plays and performances that it has produced or presented. Production information from 1963 through the 2005–06 season is sourced primarily from The Guthrie Theater: Images, History, and Inside Stories and The Guthrie Theater.

<i>God of Carnage</i> Literary work

God of Carnage is a play by Yasmina Reza that was first published in 2008. It is about two sets of parents; the son of one couple has hurt the son of the other couple at a public park. The parents meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish and the meeting devolves into chaos. Originally written in French, the play was translated into English by translator Christopher Hampton, and has enjoyed acclaim in productions in both London and New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Greif</span> American stage director (born 1959)

Michael Greif is an American stage director. He has won three Obie Awards and received four Tony Award nominations, for Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal, and Dear Evan Hansen.

<i>Tamara Drewe</i> (film) 2010 British romantic comedy film by Stephen Frears

Tamara Drewe is a 2010 British romantic comedy film directed by Stephen Frears. The screenplay was written by Moira Buffini, based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name written by Posy Simmonds. The comic strip which serves as source material was a modern reworking of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd.

<i>Longing</i> (play)

Longing is a 2013 play by the Scottish writer William Boyd, based on the short stories My Life and "A Visit to Friends" by the Russian author Anton Chekhov. Its premiere production ran at the Hampstead Theatre in London from 28 February to 6 April 2013, directed by Nina Raine and starring Tamsin Greig, Iain Glen, John Sessions, Jonathan Bailey, Natasha Little, Eve Ponsonby and Catrin Stewart. Boyd, who was theatre critic for the University of Glasgow in the 1970s and has many actor friends, refers to his ambition to write a play as finally getting "this monkey off my back".

Michael James Esper is an American actor, best known for his stage work.

Michael Bruce is a Scottish composer and lyricist working in theatre, television and film. He was composer-in-residence at the Donmar Warehouse theatre during Josie Rourke's artistic directorship there from 2012 to 2019.

References