The Long Christmas Dinner is a play in one act written by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...

 in 1931. In its first published form, it was included in the volume The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act.

Characters

The characters, as they are listed in the script:

• Lucia
• Mother Bayard
• Roderick
• Cousin Brandon
• Charles, son of Roderick and Lucia
• Genevieve, daughter of Roderick and Lucia
• The Nurse
• Leonora, wife of Charles
• Ermengarde
• Sam, son of Charles and Leonora
• Lucia II, daughter of Charles and Leonora
• Roderick II, son of Charles and Leonora

Plot

Setting: 90 years in the dining room of the Bayard House.

Length: @35 minutes

Summary: A one-act drama about several generations of one family:

A play whose action traverses ninety years and represents in accelerated motion ninety Christmas dinners in the Bayard home. The development of the countryside, the changes in customs and manners during this period of time as well as the growth of the Bayard family and their accumulation of property sums up vividly a wide aspect of American life. It is a serious play lightened with humor of character; it has a human, tender, moving quality both appealing and forceful.

Performance History

It was first performed jointly by the Yale Dramatic Association

Yale Dramatic Association

The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Dramat," is the second-oldest college theater company in the country. Founded in 1900 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing some of the finest student theatre in the United States for over a century.Though no formal...

 and The Vassar Philaletheis.

Currently, Samuel French, Inc., owns the rights to The Long Christmas Dinner.

See also

The Long Christmas Dinner

The Long Christmas Dinner (opera)

The Long Christmas Dinner is an opera in one act by Paul Hindemith, with an English libretto by Thornton Wilder based on his play of the same name.Wilder collaborated with the composer in order to make the text work effectively with the music...

for the opera by Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

to the text by Thornton Wilder.