Fool for Love (play)
Encyclopedia
Fool for Love is a play written by American
playwright/actor Sam Shepard
.
motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in the trailer on the farm they always wanted to buy. May refuses because she has started a new life and knows that if she goes back to Eddie their relationship will repeat the same destructive cycle it has before. Throughout the play the character of the Old Man — the father of both lovers — is present and talks to each of the other two characters. It is revealed that the Old Man had led a double life, abandoning each family for different parts of each child's life. The two became lovers in their high school years and when their parents finally figured out what had occurred Eddie's mother shot herself. May is afraid that Eddie has begun to emulate his father; taking to drinking and secretly seeing a woman May refers to as the Countess. The play centers around the drama of the action rather than a plot with a rising and falling action. In the end the two lovers have not reconciled, the Old Man begins to lose himself to his own delusions, and a stranger is left on stage to observe it all.
in San Francisco on February 8, 1983 and starred Ed Harris
and Kathy Baker
. It had its New York City
premiere at the Circle Repertory Theatre
on May 26, 1983, with the same cast before later transferring to the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre. The production later featured Will Patton
, Bruce Willis
, Aidan Quinn
, and Frances Fisher
. Ellen Barkin
was cast and rehearsed the role, but injured her arm before actually performing it. Moira Harris
, wife of Gary Sinise
, also performed the leading role.
The London production in 1984 starred Ian Charleson
and Julie Walters
. It premiered at the National Theatre
, and moved to the Lyric Theatre in 1985.
The play was revived at the Apollo Theatre
in London in 2006, with Martin Henderson
and Juliette Lewis
playing the lead roles in a production directed by Lindsay Posner
.
The play was revived again at Riverside Studios
in London in 2010, with Carl Barat
and Sadie Frost
in the lead roles
, Shepard himself took over the lead, with Kim Basinger
as his female lead. The film was directed by Robert Altman
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright/actor Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
.
Plot
The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave DesertMojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in the trailer on the farm they always wanted to buy. May refuses because she has started a new life and knows that if she goes back to Eddie their relationship will repeat the same destructive cycle it has before. Throughout the play the character of the Old Man — the father of both lovers — is present and talks to each of the other two characters. It is revealed that the Old Man had led a double life, abandoning each family for different parts of each child's life. The two became lovers in their high school years and when their parents finally figured out what had occurred Eddie's mother shot herself. May is afraid that Eddie has begun to emulate his father; taking to drinking and secretly seeing a woman May refers to as the Countess. The play centers around the drama of the action rather than a plot with a rising and falling action. In the end the two lovers have not reconciled, the Old Man begins to lose himself to his own delusions, and a stranger is left on stage to observe it all.
Production history
The original production, directed by Shepard, opened at the Magic TheatreMagic Theatre
The Magic Theatre is a theatre company founded in 1967, presently based at the historic Fort Mason Center on San Francisco's northern waterfront...
in San Francisco on February 8, 1983 and starred Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
and Kathy Baker
Kathy Baker
Katherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...
. It had its New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
premiere at the Circle Repertory Theatre
Circle Repertory Company
The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W...
on May 26, 1983, with the same cast before later transferring to the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre. The production later featured Will Patton
Will Patton
William Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
, and Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...
. Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...
was cast and rehearsed the role, but injured her arm before actually performing it. Moira Harris
Moira Harris
Moira Harris is an American actress.Harris was born in Pontiac, Illinois and is Roman Catholic. She graduated from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. During her college years, she met her husband Gary Sinise, and they have been married since 1981...
, wife of Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise is an American actor, film director and musician. During his career, Sinise has won various awards including an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1992, Sinise directed, and played the role of George Milton in the successful film adaptation of...
, also performed the leading role.
The London production in 1984 starred Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev...
and Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
. It premiered at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, and moved to the Lyric Theatre in 1985.
The play was revived at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
in London in 2006, with Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson
Martin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
and Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
playing the lead roles in a production directed by Lindsay Posner
Lindsay Posner
Lindsay Posner is an award-winning British theatre director, known for his work in London's West End and at the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, particularly plays by David Mamet.-Career:...
.
The play was revived again at Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
in London in 2010, with Carl Barat
Carl Barât
Carl Ashley Raphael Barât is an English musician, actor and author. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and recently debuted a solo album, but is best known for being the co-frontman with Peter Doherty of the garage rock band The Libertines.-Early life:Carl Barât was...
and Sadie Frost
Sadie Frost
Sadie Frost is an English actress, who currently runs fashion label Frost French and has designed the kitchens for a new development in the East End of London.-Biography:Frost was born Sadie Liza Vaughan in London...
in the lead roles
Film adaptation
In the 1985 film versionFool for Love (film)
Fool for Love is a 1985 film directed by Robert Altman. The film stars Sam Shepard, who also wrote the screenplay. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
, Shepard himself took over the lead, with Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
as his female lead. The film was directed by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
.