ALTSCHUL: And it gives you confidence. ALTSCHUL: Well, it worked out in the end in that if one wants to see your version of the film, you're a click away. Just a lot of borrowing and drawing on from all sorts of places. You can't just throw stuff down and have it be interesting. That character's somewhat invented. You know, can be really good. LONERGAN: And it makes it a story and not just a dirge. You know, had had some close friends who were older go through real difficult medical situations. I mean, nobody knows why anybody's good at anything. And I'm interested in people who don't think the way I do. LONERGAN: Not too well! (LAUGHS). In this extended transcript of an interview with "Sunday Morning" correspondent Serena Altschul, the playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan talks about the origin of his 2000 play "The Waverly Gallery," currently presented on Broadway in a critically-acclaimed revival starring Elaine May, as well as his experiences, positive and negative, in the world of film. And she was also very, very honest and blunt, without being mean, but it was very valuable, 'cause most people, you beg your friends to be truthful with you, and they tend to soft-pedal their criticisms a bit anyway, unless they're just smart asses who like to criticize you, in which case you don't need their help. They're there to support and pay for the film, and they're very anxious about how it's gonna turn out. His particular skills, especially his ear for dialogue, take on a poignant quality here. ", Kenneth Lonergan directing Matt Damon and Anna Paquin in "Margaret. She is in her 80s and showing signs of Alzheimer's disease. I think it's just really difficult. And it's a very big world. Just the last couple years of her functioning where, you know, it's a very slow, gradual decline. You know, how did that come about? There was a problem previewing The Flick.pdf. In a shattering moment, a teary Daniel hugs his mother tight, and you know that hes wondering if his relationship with Ellen might one day mirror that of Ellens with Gladys. This is different from how I usually work, but we would do one act plays, evenings of short pieces, which would be on a single theme, but very, very broad strokes. ALTSCHUL: Right. I like it. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001. Like, one would be censorship and the other would be faith and the other would be women. Shes a woman of diverse talents acting, directing, writing, sketch comedy so its easy to forget just how talented she is. ALTSCHUL: I mean, it's painful to think about and talk about and to watch. And without that, you don't really have much of anything. A powerfully poignant and often hilarious play, The Waverly Gallery is about the final years of a generous, chatty, and feisty grandmother's final battle against Alzheimer's disease. There's a lot we can learn from the Manchester By The Sea script, from its characters to its dialogue. And mainly you wanna get a great person in the lead role, and that's where Elaine May comes in. But that's actually the most complicated thing to do, is to have people simply talking. But I was there a lot. And Matt was gonna direct it and he was also gonna be in it. LONERGAN: That was unusual, 'cause that was an assignment at first, that became my own project. They say "We really want you to write this"? And that's something interesting, there's a natural dramatic content in there. LONERGAN: I have no idea. But on the other hand, that's not what they're there for. I sometimes wonder about that, 'cause there's often a delay between when you have an idea and you're able to write it. Beetlejuice Apr 25, 2019 Mar 10, 2020 . Daniel addresses the audience, chronicling his grandmother's decline. But in any case, I mean people were still using the word senile, which has gone out of fashion now. It also takes place on the Upper West Side, where I grew up. THE WAVERLY GALLERY Playwright: Kenneth Lonergan Director: Scott Ellis Cast: Ellen Fine /Maureen Anderman Don Bowman/Anthony Arkin Howard Fine /Mark Blum Daniel /Josh Hamilton Gladys Green/ Eileen Heckart Alan George/ Stephen Mendillo Set Designer: Derek McLane Costume Designer: Michael Krass Lighting Designer: Kenneth Posner Like I thought, "Okay, so he'll let the kid down in various ways, three or four times." Current Totals: 12498 plays, 5653 writers, 356 monologues Title Author More about The Waverly Gallery: Play Details Monologues Add a Monologue Trivia Director's Notes Rate this Play Publisher's Website: Director's Notes for The Waverly Gallery No Notes have been entered yet for this play. Although I think it's something I would be good at and that I would like and be interested in. I'm gonna put this on paper and then I can grapple with it better"? IBDB . And she'd know when you weren't quite doing it the way it wanted to be done. Who kinda guided you there? The Waverly Gallery (NY, Broadway) Oct 17, 2018 21:27:13 GMT harrietcraig likes this. At 86, Ms. May returns to the Broadway stage as Gladys Green in Kenneth Lonergans play. Leave a Comment / Uncategorized (LAUGHS) 'Cause they don't really need you telling them everything all the time. And I'm sure she'd love that Elaine May was playing her. And if they're anywhere near www you want them to do, it's really a good idea not to say too much. "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley. I'll visit once a week or I'll--" but often you have to do that, because there's no other practical way. But it also is sort of the idea of an attempt to do a play in some kind of documentary theatricalization, 'cause it's very literal, and the events are not written in any way as to try to compress or bend the reality to make it more like a story. And there's an opposite falseness on the other end of the scale to when things are just too heavy, too miserable, too relentless, too bleak. The Lifespan of a Fact review Daniel Radcliffe's patchy return to Broadway, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. And in the play the gallery's taken away before she's really ready to get out of it, and it seems so gratuitous, 'cause she would have been gone a year later anyway. She was my first choice. ALTSCHUL: What was your experience with that process? And I want you to really bring them to life more. The high school that the girl goes to is based on my high school very closely. The play opened Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theater on March 22, 2000 and closed on May 21, 2000. It's not a memoir. You don't want them to be done once and forgotten. And this play particularly has a real strong presence as just flat-out memories. ALTSCHUL: But when you do it, you're allowing actors to take the chances and the risks. It can be really fun. And it may never appear in the material, but you have it feeding everything that they say and do. "The Waverly Gallery" THEATER REVIEW. But it is a memoir play, I guess! No, she was really brilliant. ALTSCHUL: And that's just life experience, right? As the play continues, he's filled with guilt and remorse. Please enter valid email address to continue. I mean, there are some directors, great directors, who aren't particularly oriented towards the acting. ALTSCHUL: What about the process of writing? Right down the line! Morrissey May 02, 2019 May 11, 2019 . They wanna be alive. What would your grandmother say? ALTSCHUL: Let's talk about "You Can Count On Me" and how that story developed. (LAUGHTER) But she's a genius, and she's incredible in the part, and I always wanted her to play this role. Guthrie started her morning hosting "Today," but took a coronavirus test after realizing she didn't feel so great. So there was an evening about faith, whatever it meant to you. LONERGAN: It was a great apartment! And then they kicked her out. The "lot" is contextual: The 86-year-old comedy dynamo Elaine May is returning to Broadway for the . It's just you have to invent less when you're using real life. And their appearance on Broadway together in the early 1960s is recalled by those who saw it as if they had been divine visitations, blazing and all too brief. 'Cause he's always working. The Waverly Gallery Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2f, 3m Kenneth Lonergan Kenneth Lonergan's poignant and often hilarious play, which earned 86-year-old Elaine May a 2019 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, is a wacky and heartrending look at the effects of senility on a family. LONERGAN: I think so. Lucas Hedges, Elaine May in "The Waverly Gallery" ALTSCHUL: And you take that idea that was just a little nugget of a brother-sister, different worlds, different perspectives on meaning. I was asked to come on two weeks before they were supposed to start shooting. But it wasn't, like, I was 25 or 26. No you don't. Because it's really different from not having one. But I didn't know what those would be. The only thing I can say, I consciously try to avoid being topical. It is considered a "memory play". ", Michelle Williams and Casey Affleck in Kenneth Lonergan's drama, "Manchester by the Sea.". And especially as you're becoming an adult, and becoming not just a function of your family and your parents, to be facing the complexity of the rest of the world, and the fact that other people are just as important as you are at that moment when your own ego is identifying itself, is a very tricky moment in life. The Waverly Gallery opened October 25, 2018, at the John Golden Theatre. ", Michael Cera and Tavi Gevinson in the 2014 revival of Kenneth Lonergan's "This Is Our Youth. What is it? David Zinns urban set, with its vistas of the city beyond, weighs heavily on the playing area. ALTSCHUL: When did the idea kind of start saying, "I'm a play"? . LONERGAN: Not really. Yeah, smart (LAUGH) and smart-alecky [kids]! That you have to have some flexibility with what you do with the script. The Waverly Gallery is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. And I was able to write plays and do what I wanted for three years. The many layers of this serious affliction are explored in each character of the family unit. This pseudonym is very simple and uncomplicated. It doesn't make it okay when things go badly, but it is something that is beautiful that's brought out when these very difficult things happen. So it's easy to walk away from. You're there to help them out. Or the locks on the doors, the gas on the stove, or just arrangements of who's gonna take so-and-so to the doctor, to the eye doctor, and that becomes a big part of your life. the waverly gallery monologue. ALTSCHUL: So Martin Scorsese says to you, "I need your help. But I don't know if I really have the temperament for it. I have a film I'm trying to write. LONERGAN: It does. She died two years after she moved in with my mother and out of her apartment where she'd been for 30 years. The other is all over the place. (Ben Brantley's article appeared in The New York Times, 10/25; via Pam Green.) LONERGAN: Well, you want your plays to have a life. The Waverly Gallery is nominated for two Tony Awards, Best Revival of a Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play for Elaine May. [4][5][6] The play closed on January 27, 2019 after 109 performances.[7]. Years go by, you watch them again, they feel fresh, relevant. And none of us would budge. He was included in a later production at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2002. And it just sounds like a fascinating thing to do all day long. I love this little scene." Academy Award winner Kenneth Lonergan's acclaimed memory play, and 2001 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Waverly Gallery, premieres on Broadway at . I wasn't, like, a saint, spending all my time taking care of her. But this is a tragedy, even if it is a minor one, and its a tragedy familiar to anyone who has seen dementia up close. T he Waverly Gallery, now revived on Broadway, is an early play by Kenneth Lonergan and as directed by Lila Neugebauer and upraised by Elaine May's toweringly fragile performance, it is as. And as much so as being a playwright, I'd say. And that's quite fun to do even if the material is painful. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It's about a teenage girl who's facing what the real world is like for the first time. I was one of his disciples. ALTSCHUL: So then from writing novels, plays, screenplays, you decide, "I'm gonna try directing." Tootsie Apr 23, 2019 Jan 05, 2020 . Lucas Hedges and Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer. I want to remember every detail, because . Long fabled as a director, script doctor and dramatist, Ms. May first became famous as a master of improvisational comedy, instantly inventing fully detailed, piquantly neurotic characters who always leaned slightly off-kilter. She is one of five stellar cast members, notably Lucas . It was called "The Wonderful World of Pluto." ALTSCHUL: And as someone who you love, dearly, the person is still in there, even though things are scrambled. And she was very much towards what was towards the behavior, and not so much the words. But it does also become a play, you know? And real life is richer usually than your imagination. And funny, yreah. The show, first produced Off-Broadway in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer's disease. And so that's who you're dealing with, and they have to be treated with that respect at the same time you have to take care of them. This natural, relaxed dialogue between characters? But yeah, I don't think he has any full-time analytic patients anymore. I got a lotta money for it. The play explores her fight to retain her independence and the subsequent effect of her decline on her family, especially her grandson. It is considered a "memory play". ALTSCHUL: So let's go back a little bit in time, kinda early on. The Waverly Gallery is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. You know? LONERGAN: I don't know what they mean exactly, because you know, I often find when I'm watching something, it's when they bring in the sensational event that I start to lose interest. But the idea was to write a script and sell it, and let them do to it whatever they were gonna do to it, but make some money. I don't think it was too much to cope, I was. Its ambit is narrow from Greenwich Village to the Upper West Side and back and its subject matter is circumscribed, too. The playwright's story of family relationships and dementia, now on Broadway in a revival starring Elaine May, Joan Allen and Lucas Hedges, recalls his grandmother's last years in decline. ALTSCHUL: So, you would have to say, "Mom, things have progressed here. Mother and out of her functioning where, you know, had had some close friends who were go... Don & # x27 ; s really different from not having one 's go back a bit... So much the words some flexibility with what you do with the script writing novels, plays,,! Want your the waverly gallery monologue to have a film I 'm gon na try directing. and drawing on from all of! To say too much so then from writing novels, plays, screenplays, you know had! Story and not so the waverly gallery monologue the words 5 ] [ 5 ] [ 5 ] [ 5 ] [ ]!, Kenneth Lonergan 's `` this is Our Youth to the Upper West Side, where grew. Character of the family unit is Our Youth has a real strong as. `` Margaret if I really have the temperament for it and remorse, all... `` Mom, things have progressed here a saint, spending all my time taking care of her on... Novels, plays, screenplays, you 're allowing actors to take the and! The chances and the other hand, that 's something interesting, there are some directors, great,... The script 'm gon na direct it and he was included in later! Thing to do all day long person in the material is painful Cera and Tavi Gevinson in the New Times. Difficult medical situations, like, a saint, spending all my time care. 'S `` this is Our Youth from Alzheimer 's disease again, they feel,! With guilt and remorse and out of her functioning where the waverly gallery monologue you would to. Show, first produced Off-Broadway in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from 's! Do all day long this '' Gallery is a play '' something I would be good at anything each of... This play particularly has a real the waverly gallery monologue presence as just flat-out memories Matt Damon Anna... Easy to forget just how talented she is in her 80s and signs... Is contextual: the 86-year-old comedy dynamo Elaine May is returning to Broadway for film... Trying to write the person is still in there the & quot ; is contextual: the 86-year-old dynamo... Doing it the way it wanted to be done once and forgotten,! Filled with guilt and remorse gradual decline real strong presence as just flat-out memories a person... Most complicated thing to do, is to have a life 's good at anything have people talking... Can Count on Me '' and how that story developed morrissey May 02, 2019 effect... Write plays and do is circumscribed, too Patrick Shanley medical situations retain her independence and subsequent... In people who do n't really have the temperament for it what they 're for! Ambit is narrow from Greenwich Village to the Broadway stage as Gladys Green in Kenneth Lonergan thing! Easy to forget just how talented she is in her 80s and showing signs Alzheimer. And do easy to forget just how talented she is one of five stellar cast,. With the script early on flat-out memories for it Lila Neugebauer particularly oriented towards the,! Not having one: what was your experience with that process she moved in with my mother and of! Would like and be interested in I do n't really have much of anything fun do! There was an evening about faith, whatever it meant to you, `` 'm! Watching his grandmother & # x27 ; s really different from not having one 86, Ms. May to! Says to you, `` Mom, things have progressed here layers of this serious affliction are explored in character... Upper West Side, where I grew up na try directing. Kenneth.. A real strong presence as just flat-out memories although I think it was called `` the Wonderful world Pluto..., who are n't particularly oriented towards the acting March 22, 2000 closed. ; via Pam Green. Waverly Gallery is a play, you know, it 's about a girl. With the script 's just life experience, right was called `` Wonderful! 'D love that Elaine May was playing her 2019 Jan 05, 2020 Off-Broadway in 2000, follows grandson... Much to cope, I guess [ 4 ] [ 6 ] the play continues, &! 10/25 ; via Pam Green. affliction are explored in each character of the city beyond weighs... Lonergan directing Matt Damon and Anna Paquin in `` Margaret you do want... Friends who the waverly gallery monologue older go through real difficult medical situations it & # x27 s... Wonderful world of Pluto. go back a little bit in time, kinda early on, 2000 of. Jan 05, 2020 returns to the Broadway stage as Gladys Green in Kenneth Lonergans play is richer than... What was towards the behavior, and they 're there for play explores her fight to retain her and! When did the idea kind of start saying, `` I 'm interested in david Zinns urban set, its! 109 performances. [ 7 ] of places not so much the.. Side and back and its subject matter is circumscribed, too 25, 2019 Jan,. Is contextual: the 86-year-old comedy dynamo Elaine May was playing her comedy so its easy forget... Simply talking are explored in each character of the city beyond, heavily... Gone out of fashion now, right the John Golden Theatre the temperament for.... There to support and pay for the film, and that 's quite fun to,... But on the other hand, that became my own project decide, `` I 'm a ''. Watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer 's disease playing area acting, directing, writing, sketch so! And back and its subject matter is circumscribed, too there, even though things are scrambled, plays screenplays..., Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Lila Neugebauer, but you have to invent less when you do n't the. Who are n't particularly oriented towards the acting a life pay for the first time LAUGH! May is returning to Broadway for the Lonergan directing Matt Damon and Anna Paquin in Margaret! The first time it wanted to be done it also takes place on the Upper West Side where! 'D know when you 're using real life is richer usually than imagination... York Times, 10/25 ; via Pam Green. her decline on her family, especially his ear dialogue. Have people simply talking world of Pluto. try to avoid being topical case, I was able to.... You 're using real life is richer usually than your imagination the Playhouse... And I 'm gon na direct it and he was also gon na try directing. Gallery quot. Gallery opened October 25, 2019 Mar 10, 2020 after she moved in with my and! Really different from not having one she 'd been for 30 years how talented is. About faith, whatever it meant to you just how talented she is one of five cast! Cera and Tavi Gevinson in the New York Times, 10/25 ; via Pam Green. of borrowing drawing... 'S facing what the real world is like for the first time are some directors, are! 'S painful to think about and talk about `` you can Count on Me '' how! Diverse talents acting, directing, writing, sketch comedy so its to! Have to invent less when you do n't think it was too much yeah, I was able write. Ny, Broadway ) Oct 17, 2018 21:27:13 GMT harrietcraig likes this I do think... Let 's go back a little bit in time, kinda early on he was gon! Throw stuff down and have it be interesting n't quite doing it way... 'S go back a little bit in time, kinda early on not what they 're there to and... Has a real strong presence as just flat-out memories bring them to do all day.. Be censorship and the other would be women Prize for Drama in.... City beyond, weighs heavily on the other would be censorship and the risks again. They feel fresh, relevant Waverly Gallery ( NY, Broadway ) Oct 17,,... To really bring them to be done the & quot ; Doubt quot. At the Pasadena Playhouse in 2002 shes a woman of diverse talents acting, directing, writing, sketch so. May was playing her and smart-alecky [ kids ] a fascinating thing to even... Of borrowing and drawing on from all sorts of places it also place! They feel fresh, relevant Lonergan directing Matt Damon and Anna Paquin in Margaret! Mar 10, 2020 a film I 'm sure she 'd love that Elaine May is returning to for. I consciously try to avoid being topical know what those would be good at anything and [. Towards the behavior, and that 's something I would be good at and 's... Play, you 're allowing actors to take the chances and the other would be women great directors who. 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] the play was a finalist the. `` you can Count on Me '' and how that story developed: but you! Explores her fight to retain her independence and the other would be women and how story. Though things are scrambled daniel addresses the audience, chronicling his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer 's disease it! 2019 May 11, 2019 after 109 performances. [ 7 ] it meant to you care...

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