The Young Man From Atlanta is a drama written by American dramatist, Horton Foote

Horton Foote

Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...

 first produced Off Broadway by the Signature Theatre on 27 January 1995. Foote received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

The 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...

 for the work. One of four Foote plays the group produced during its 1994/1995 season, it was directed by Pete Masterson and starred Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite is an American actor, whose most notable role was playing John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS TV series The Waltons, which he also occasionally directed...

 as Will Kidder and James Pritchett

James Pritchett

James Pritchett was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Matt Powers on the long-running soap opera The Doctors. He was born in Lenoir, North Carolina in 1922...

 as Pete Davenport.

Characters

• Lily Dale Kidder
• Will Kidder
• Pete Davenport
• Carson
• Tom Jackson
• Miss Lacey
• Ted Cleveland, Jr.
• Clara
• Etta Doris Meneffree

Summary

In this play Foote revived characters which had been in his The Orphan's Home cycle of nine plays. Will Kidder — 64 years old in this play — was in his early twenties in Lily Dale, and approaching middle age in Cousins. Sixty-year-old Lily Dale Kidder was introduced in Roots in a Parched Ground as a ten-year-old, and was portrayed in subsequent life stages in Lily Dale and Cousins. Her stepfather, 72-year-old Pete Davenport, first appears at age thirty in Roots in a Parched Ground. According to the playwright, he thought he was done with these characters after Cousins, but in the early 1990s found himself thinking about them again and started work on this play.

Productions

The 1997 Broadway production of the play at the Longacre Theatre

Longacre Theatre

The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 220 West 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.-Theatre History:Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts in 1912, it was named for Longacre Square, the original name for Times Square...

 was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play

Tony Award for Best Play

The 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...

, William Biff McGuire for Best Performance by a Featured Actor

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. The award has been presented since 1949.-1950s:* 1951: Eli Wallach – The Rose Tattoo* 1952: John Cromwell – Point of No Return...

, Shirley Knight

Shirley Knight

Shirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....

 for the Best Performance by a Leading Actress

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...

 and Director David Richenthal

David Richenthal

David Richenthal is a lawyer and Broadway theater producer. He is currently the President of Richenthal Productions, Inc. Former companies include Delphi Productions, LLC and Barking Dog Entertainment, Inc....

 for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play

The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...

.

External links