Tony Award winner Linda Lavin and director Lynne Meadow, who collaborated on MTC’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, reunite for a new production of Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies' celebrated drama. Collected Stories chronicles the relationship between two female writers: Ruth Steiner (Lavin), a celebrated New York author with a dry wit and a distinguished career; and her bright-eyed young protégé, Lisa Morrison. As their relationship evolves and the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, their fascinating story comes to an explosive conclusion.
While the play raises some pertinent questions about the intersections of life and art, at heart it’s a cozy, bookish West Village version of All About Eve. But the women are unevenly matched: The excerpts that Margulies gives us of Lisa’s supposedly promising work are unimpressive, and Paulson is not a sharp enough foil for the dramatic fencing required. Lavin deserves to be seen, but might be better appreciated elsewhere. Is it perverse to hope for an Off Broadway transfer?
Lavin is a joy to watch, investing Ruth with an appealing kind of cranky wisdom that only grows more pronounced as the woman ages ('Collected Stories' covers a span of six years). The actress gives one of those complete, nuanced performances, capturing the woman's intellectual vigor, her wry sense of humor and her increasing physical frailty with astonishing fidelity. And Lavin's sense of timing is superb, whether delivering a joke or acerbically dissecting the work of her protegee.
1997 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1998 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2010 | Broadway |
Manhattan Theatre Club Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Linda Lavin |
1997 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Donald Margulies |
1997 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Donald Margulies |
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