Marvin's Room (play)
Encyclopedia
Marvin's Room is a play by written by Scott McPherson that premiered off-Broadway
at Playwrights Horizons
on 15 November 1991, and later adapted for a film of the same title in 1996 .
The play is based upon McPherson's experiences with AIDS in his family, and later when his lover, activist Daniel Sotomayor, died of HIV-AIDS ; McPherson himself died in 1992 of AIDS at age 33
McPherson was born in Columbus, Ohio. He acted in a production of Larry Kramer's AIDS play, The Normal Heart, where he met his first partner, actor and playwright Steven Drukman
. He wrote two other plays, Til the Fat Lady Sings and Scraped.
"Marvin's Room" had its premiere in Chicago in 1990 directed by David Petrarca and went on to national acclaim, including off-Broadway runs in New York and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The play won the 1992 Outer Critics Circle award for best play, the 1992 Drama Desk award for best play and the Joseph Jefferson award in Chicago for best original work.
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
on 15 November 1991, and later adapted for a film of the same title in 1996 .
The play is based upon McPherson's experiences with AIDS in his family, and later when his lover, activist Daniel Sotomayor, died of HIV-AIDS ; McPherson himself died in 1992 of AIDS at age 33
McPherson was born in Columbus, Ohio. He acted in a production of Larry Kramer's AIDS play, The Normal Heart, where he met his first partner, actor and playwright Steven Drukman
Steven Drukman
-Biography:In 1999, Drukman received a Ph.D. from New York University, where he is currently a full-time professor. Drukman spent many years writing for the Arts and Leisure section of The New York Times....
. He wrote two other plays, Til the Fat Lady Sings and Scraped.
Awards and nominations
- 1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding PlayDrama Desk Award for Outstanding PlayThis is a list of winners of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play initially introduced in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre.-1950s:Vernon Rice Award for Best Production...
"Marvin's Room" had its premiere in Chicago in 1990 directed by David Petrarca and went on to national acclaim, including off-Broadway runs in New York and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The play won the 1992 Outer Critics Circle award for best play, the 1992 Drama Desk award for best play and the Joseph Jefferson award in Chicago for best original work.
Further reading
- Marvin's Room The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, by Don B. Wilmeth, Leonard Jacobs. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 0521835380. page 430.
- The Applause-Best Plays Theater Yearbook, 1990-1991: Featuring the Ten Best Plays of the Year, by Otis L. Guernsey, Jeffrey Sweet. Illustrated by Al Hirschfield. Applause Theatre Books, 2000. ISBN 1557831076. Page 476
- "MARVIN'S ROOM: A Study Guide", Public Theatre, February, 2004