The Country House (TCG Edition)

Donald Margulies

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781559364911
• eBook ISBN: 9781559368032
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático americano

"Margulies is literate and intellectually stimulating. His ideas and language hold our attention and earn our respect."—New York

"Donald Margulies has an unerring sense of language and the ability to penetrate deeply into the darkness of tangled human emotions."—Variety

Gathering in their Berkshire home, a family of actors wrestles with fame, art, and (as always) each other. Brought back together for a melancholy purpose, the solemnity is quickly undercut by restless egos and inflamed temperaments. When the events of the weekend go off-script, secrets are spilled and bonds are broken. Inspired by—and often directly referencing –Chekhov's pastoral comedies, this witty and compelling new comedy unfolds in a fragile old home brimming with memories, new love, and discarded dreams.

A funny and poignant comedy about a family of actors, from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies.

Donald Margulies has won a Lucille Lortel Award, an American Theatre Critics Award, two Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, two Obie Awards, two Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Awards, one Tony Award nomination, six Drama Desk Award nominations, two Pulitzer Prize nominations, and one Pulitzer Prize. His works have been performed on and off Broadway, and at major theaters across the United States, as well as a host of international cities.

Act One

A century-old house in the Berkshires, near Williamstown, Massachusetts, that has long been the summer home of a family of theater people. Bought for a song four decades ago, it has changed relatively little over the years, and what improvements that were made were done piecemeal. Still, it is not without charm. Secondhand furnishings, collected over decades, somehow work in concert to convey cozy, Bohemian chic. (Look closely and you will see the decay.) Warped wooden shelves are crammed with mildewed, summer-reading paperbacks; arts-and-crafts made by two generations of children on rainy summer days; box games, a motley assortment of sporting equipment. Vintage posters from the Williamstown Theatre Festival and framed, faded production stills adorn the walls. Screened French doors open onto a brick patio and a garden. A kitchen, dining room and bathroom are accessible; a staircase leads to a warren of bedrooms on the second floor.

SCENE 1

A humid, overcast afternoon in early summer. Susie, barefoot in a black cotton dress, is curled up on the couch, looking through a photo album. Earbuds in, she’s listening to Joni Mitchell and mumble-sings along the way people do when they can’t hear themselves. We hear (but Susie does not) a car pull up on a gravel driveway.

Anna, sunglasses on, makes her entrance carrying canvas bags of groceries.

ANNA

(Entering) Darling, I can use a hand. (Meaning: with the bags) Hello-o-o?

(Anna comes closer, startling Susie.)

SUSIE

God, Granna, / you almost gave me a heart attack!

ANNA

How do you expect to hear anything, those stupid things / in your ears?

SUSIE

You could have at least made your presence known.

ANNA

I entered the room. I am not one ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Production History
• Characters
• Time
• Act One
• Act Two
• Act Three
• About the Author