Tony Award winner Linda Lavin and director Lynne Meadow, who collaborated on MTC’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, reunite for a new production of Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies' celebrated drama. Collected Stories chronicles the relationship between two female writers: Ruth Steiner (Lavin), a celebrated New York author with a dry wit and a distinguished career; and her bright-eyed young protégé, Lisa Morrison. As their relationship evolves and the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, their fascinating story comes to an explosive conclusion.
Why, you ask, would Manhattan Theatre Club follow its premiere of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still with a revival of Collected Stories — his crafty 1996 literary drama that's already been done twice in New York City? So we can hear Linda Lavin turn out two hours' worth of delicious bons mots like 'Life's too short for The New Yorker.' Lavin is relishing, but not milking, her role as a writer/professor/reluctant mentor; Deadwood's Sarah Paulson is ever-so-slightly (perhaps appropriately) grating as her sycophantic protégée.
As good actors age — perhaps a more felicitous word would be mature — they learn how to do more with less. Consider the left eyebrow of Linda Lavin, the veteran star of the new revival of Donald Margulies’s “Collected Stories.” At one point in this durable drama about the manners and morals of writers, Ms. Lavin raises said eyebrow by perhaps half an inch. She says nary a word, and doesn’t move any other muscle, but still communicates with this minimal gesture more than a lesser actor might squeeze from a long monologue. She gets a solid laugh too.
1997 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1998 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2010 | Broadway |
Manhattan Theatre Club Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Linda Lavin |
1997 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Donald Margulies |
1997 | The Pulitzer Prize | The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | Donald Margulies |
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