The Shadow Box
Encyclopedia
The Shadow Box is a play written by actor Michael Cristofer
. The play made its Broadway debut on March 31, 1977. The original cast included Simon Oakland
as Joe, Laurence Luckinbill
as Brian, Mandy Patinkin
as Mark, Geraldine Fitzgerald
as Felicity, and Vincent Spano
as Steve.
Act One
It is morning. The play opens with Joe sat in the interview area talking to the interviewer. We are introduced to the notion that he is dying and that his family are about to arrive, whom he hasn’t seen for most of his treatment. ‘The interviewer’ acts as a tool for each of the patients and their families to relay their feelings about their situation; an outside entity were our characters can speak bluntly without taking into consideration the feelings of the person they are talking to. As the act continues we are introduced into each of the families at the centre of our story. Joe’s wife and son arrive, Maggie and Steve, and it quickly becomes apparent that Maggie is avoiding dealing with the prospect of her future without Joe and refuses to enter their cabin, while Steve has no idea of his father’s impending death. Brian is then introduced to the audience. We see that he is taking an aloof approach to his illness and that he wants to live each day until the last and that, rather than skirt the issues, he confronts them with a dark humour. His young gay lover Mark is with him at the camp and as the act continues his ex wife Beverly arrives in a glamorous fashion adding a third dynamic to their story. The third family is Felicity, an elderly woman and her daughter Agnes. From the onset we see that Felicity falls in and out of the real world; sometimes away with the fairies at others having poignant moments of lucidity. Agnes is the perfect caretaker and her reserved disposition contrasted with her mother’s often hysterical insanity provides moments that are both heartbreaking and yet extremely funny in the same second. The Act brings us straight into the middle of these characters lives. It is for the most part just a normal day in their world and it is within the individuality of the characters that the story lies. The act flows seamlessly between the serious and the humorous often not even stopping for a beat in between. It becomes apparent from the first act that they are each radically different people but weaving them together is that they each have the same future; whether they are terminal or not. As the act ends Joe and Maggie are beginning to really talk, Agnes is struggling to connect to her mother, Brian and Beverly are dancing.
Act Two
Act two picks up from were act one ends, it is nearing evening. Joe is still coaxing Maggie to come into the cabin, Brian and Beverly are reminiscing while Mark becomes frustrated by his lovers jollity, Agnes begins to talk to the interviewer. As the act continues we begin to see the cracks within Brian’s brutal forthrightness about his illness and Marks real feelings about his death, while Beverly
provides some raw insight within her seemingly scattered exterior. Joe and Maggie continue to struggle to have a real conversation about their future. Agnes reveals a secret about her sister Claire, that died in an accident and since Agnes has been writing letters to her mother from her sister, and the interviewer presents her with some hard questions. We begin more and more to understand the lives of our characters before their illness and, as a result, their current situation becomes more poignant. There are some hard conversations, some emotional fractures and as ever moments of sincere humour. The beauty of the play is that by the end of the Act no moral conclusions have been drawn, no one has died, no one is going to live forever but what we have seen has been real, has been a reality for so many people and we are left not thinking about our impending death but what we will do with this ‘moment’ that we have to live.
and closed on December 31, 1977, after 315 performances.
The production was directed by Gordon Davidson
with scenery by Ming Cho Lee
, costumes by Bill Walker, lighting by Ronald Wallace, production stage manager Franklin Keysar, associate producers Philip Getter and Bernard Stuchin, and press by Betty Lee Hunt, Maria Cristina Pucci, and Fred Hoot. The show's cast featured Josef Sommer
(Interviewer), Simon Oakland
(Joe), Vincent Stewart (Steve), Joyce Ebert
(Maggie), Laurence Luckinbill
(Brian), Mandy Patinkin
(Mark), Patricia Elliot (Beverly), Rose Gregorio
(Agnes), and Geraldine Fitzgerald
(Felicity). Mary Carver replaced Fitzgerald on April 30, 1977 and Clifton James
replaced Oakland on May 23, 1977.
in 1980, directed by Paul Newman
. It went on to win a Golden Globe and nominations for three Emmy Awards
Nominations
Michael Cristofer
Michael Ivan Cristofer is an American playwright, filmmaker and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for The Shadow Box in 1977....
. The play made its Broadway debut on March 31, 1977. The original cast included Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
as Joe, Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence George Luckinbill is an American actor.-Life and career:Luckinbill was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the son of Agnes and Laurence Benedict Luckinbill. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1956 and The Catholic University of America in 1958.He starred in the 1976 Broadway play...
as Brian, Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
as Mark, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
as Felicity, and Vincent Spano
Vincent Spano
Vincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...
as Steve.
Plot synopsis
The play takes place over twenty four hours, in three separate vacation cabins on the grounds of a large hospital, in America. Within the three cabins our three patients, Joe, Brian and Felicity are living with their respective families as they have reached the end of their treatment and have agreed to be part of a psychological scheme where they live within the hospital grounds and have interviews with a psychiatrist.Act One
It is morning. The play opens with Joe sat in the interview area talking to the interviewer. We are introduced to the notion that he is dying and that his family are about to arrive, whom he hasn’t seen for most of his treatment. ‘The interviewer’ acts as a tool for each of the patients and their families to relay their feelings about their situation; an outside entity were our characters can speak bluntly without taking into consideration the feelings of the person they are talking to. As the act continues we are introduced into each of the families at the centre of our story. Joe’s wife and son arrive, Maggie and Steve, and it quickly becomes apparent that Maggie is avoiding dealing with the prospect of her future without Joe and refuses to enter their cabin, while Steve has no idea of his father’s impending death. Brian is then introduced to the audience. We see that he is taking an aloof approach to his illness and that he wants to live each day until the last and that, rather than skirt the issues, he confronts them with a dark humour. His young gay lover Mark is with him at the camp and as the act continues his ex wife Beverly arrives in a glamorous fashion adding a third dynamic to their story. The third family is Felicity, an elderly woman and her daughter Agnes. From the onset we see that Felicity falls in and out of the real world; sometimes away with the fairies at others having poignant moments of lucidity. Agnes is the perfect caretaker and her reserved disposition contrasted with her mother’s often hysterical insanity provides moments that are both heartbreaking and yet extremely funny in the same second. The Act brings us straight into the middle of these characters lives. It is for the most part just a normal day in their world and it is within the individuality of the characters that the story lies. The act flows seamlessly between the serious and the humorous often not even stopping for a beat in between. It becomes apparent from the first act that they are each radically different people but weaving them together is that they each have the same future; whether they are terminal or not. As the act ends Joe and Maggie are beginning to really talk, Agnes is struggling to connect to her mother, Brian and Beverly are dancing.
Act Two
Act two picks up from were act one ends, it is nearing evening. Joe is still coaxing Maggie to come into the cabin, Brian and Beverly are reminiscing while Mark becomes frustrated by his lovers jollity, Agnes begins to talk to the interviewer. As the act continues we begin to see the cracks within Brian’s brutal forthrightness about his illness and Marks real feelings about his death, while Beverly
provides some raw insight within her seemingly scattered exterior. Joe and Maggie continue to struggle to have a real conversation about their future. Agnes reveals a secret about her sister Claire, that died in an accident and since Agnes has been writing letters to her mother from her sister, and the interviewer presents her with some hard questions. We begin more and more to understand the lives of our characters before their illness and, as a result, their current situation becomes more poignant. There are some hard conversations, some emotional fractures and as ever moments of sincere humour. The beauty of the play is that by the end of the Act no moral conclusions have been drawn, no one has died, no one is going to live forever but what we have seen has been real, has been a reality for so many people and we are left not thinking about our impending death but what we will do with this ‘moment’ that we have to live.
Productions
The play opened on March 31, 1977 at the Morosco TheatreMorosco Theatre
The Morosco Theatre was a legitimate theatre located at 217 West 45th Street in the heart of the theater district in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States....
and closed on December 31, 1977, after 315 performances.
The production was directed by Gordon Davidson
Gordon Davidson
Gordon Davidson is an American stage- and film director.-External links:...
with scenery by Ming Cho Lee
Ming Cho Lee
Ming Cho Lee is a Chinese-born American theatrical set designer and a longtime professor at the Yale School of Drama....
, costumes by Bill Walker, lighting by Ronald Wallace, production stage manager Franklin Keysar, associate producers Philip Getter and Bernard Stuchin, and press by Betty Lee Hunt, Maria Cristina Pucci, and Fred Hoot. The show's cast featured Josef Sommer
Josef Sommer
Josef Sommer is an American film actor.He was born Maximilian Josef Sommer in Greifswald, Germany and was raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemons Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology...
(Interviewer), Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
(Joe), Vincent Stewart (Steve), Joyce Ebert
Joyce Ebert
Joyce Ebert was an American actress. She was particularly known for her work as a dramatic actress at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut where she portrayed both leading and supporting roles in more than 80 productions...
(Maggie), Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence Luckinbill
Laurence George Luckinbill is an American actor.-Life and career:Luckinbill was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the son of Agnes and Laurence Benedict Luckinbill. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1956 and The Catholic University of America in 1958.He starred in the 1976 Broadway play...
(Brian), Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
(Mark), Patricia Elliot (Beverly), Rose Gregorio
Rose Gregorio
Rose Gregorio is an American character actress. She began her career appearing mostly in theatre in Chicago and New York City during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s she became more active in television and film, appearing mostly in supporting roles...
(Agnes), and Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
(Felicity). Mary Carver replaced Fitzgerald on April 30, 1977 and Clifton James
Clifton James
George Clifton James is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as the bumbling Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and his role alongside Sean Connery in The Untouchables .-Personal life:James was...
replaced Oakland on May 23, 1977.
Film adaptation
Cristofer adapted the play for a television movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
in 1980, directed by Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
. It went on to win a Golden Globe and nominations for three Emmy Awards
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1977 Tony Award for Best PlayTony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
- 1977 Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
Nominations
- 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New American PlayDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...