Together, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and MTC have brought four outstanding new plays to the New York stage. Their most recent collaboration, RABBIT HOLE, earned Lindsay-Abaire the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now, he returns to MTC, along with RABBIT HOLE director and Tony Award® winner Daniel Sullivan, to premiere his newest work, the timely and powerful GOOD PEOPLE.
Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo… where this month’s paycheck covers last month’s bills… and where Margie Walsh has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling who has made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has left to find out.
With his signature humorous glow, Lindsay-Abaire explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.
The pitch perfect cast paints a reality that bristles with edgy truth. The brilliant Estelle Parsons is dead-on, supplying comic relief as Margie’s low-class landlady. Tate Donovan is sensational, oozing conflicted impulses as a man desperate to shed his Southie skin. His liberal wife, far more comfortable in her skin, is nicely played by Renee Elise Goldsberry with both passion and restraint. And Frances McDormand finds nuances in every syllable, delivering a mesmerizing performance as a plucky casualty of the culture wars.
Under Daniel Sullivan's sensitive direction, the cast -- including the wryly sharp Estelle Parsons and Becky Ann Baker as Margie's landlady and best friend, respectively -- gives us fully rounded characters that never fall into caricature. Indeed, the play is often very funny, but never at the expense of its ill-starred characters. It's that generosity that makes 'Good People' a good show.
2011 | Broadway |
Manhattan Theatre Club Production Broadway |
2014 | West End |
West End Transfer West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Frances McDormand |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | David Lindsay-Abaire |
2011 | New York Drama Critics Circle Awards | Best Play | 0 |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Frances McDormand |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Daniel Sullivan |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Estelle Parsons |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Renee Elise |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | 0 |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Frances McDormand |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Play | David Lindsay-Abaire |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Manhattan Theatre Club |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Lynne Meadow |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Barry Grove |
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