Painting Churches is a play written by Tina Howe

Tina Howe

Tina Howe is an American playwright. She is the daughter of journalist Quincy Howe and was raised in a literary family...

, first produced Off-Broadway

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...

 in 1976. It was a finalist for the 1982 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...

. The play concerns the relationship between an artist daughter and her aging parents.

Plot

In a townhouse in the Beacon Hill area of Boston, an elderly couple, Fanny (in her 60s) and Gardner (in his 70s) Church, are packing. They are moving to a beach home on Cape Cod

Cape Cod

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

. Gardner is a poet and Fanny is from a "fine old family." Their daughter Margaret (Mags), an artist who lives in New York, has arrived to help them pack and paint their portrait. Over the course of several days, Mags sees her role in the parent-child relationship changing.

Production history

Painting Churches, produced by Second Stage Theatre

Second Stage Theatre

Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...

, premiered Off-Broadway on February 8, 1976 at the McGinn-Cazale Theatre, where it ran for 30 performances. It transferred to the Lamb's Theatre

Lamb's Theatre

Lamb's Theatre was an Off-Broadway theater located at 130 West 44th Street, New York City inside the Manhattan Church of the Nazarene, near Times Square in New York City. It seated approximately 350 and specialized in musical productions...

 where it ran from November 22, 1976 through May 20, 1977 for 206 performances.

The production was directed by Carole Rothman, set design by Heidi Landesman, costumes by Linda Fisher, lighting by Frances Aronson. The show featured Donald Moffat

Donald Moffat

Donald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...

 as (Gardner Church) (first production)and then George Martin at (Lamb's Theatre), Elizabeth McGovern

Elizabeth McGovern

-Early life:McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott , a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern and her maternal great-grandfather was U.S. diplomat...

 (Margaret Church), and Marian Seldes

Marian Seldes

Marian Hall Seldes is an American stage, film, radio, and television actress whose career has spanned six decades and who was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...

 (Fanny Church).

The play was filmed for the public television series "American Playhouse" and broadcast in 1979. The cast featured Sada Thompson

Sada Thompson

Sada Carolyn Thompson was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Life and career:Born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss , and raised in New Jersey, Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after...

, Donald Moffat, and Roxanne Hart

Roxanne Hart

Roxanne Hart is an American television, film and stage actress. She may be best known for her role as Brenda Wyatt in the 1986 film Highlander. She is also known for the role of Nurse Camille Shutt on the Medical drama Chicago Hope....

.

Awards and nominations

Obie Award

Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...

 1983

• Performance - Donald Moffat (winner)
• Design - Heidi Landesman (winner)

Outer Critics Circle Award

Outer Critics Circle Award

The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...

 1984

• Best Off-Broadway Play (winner)
• Best Actress - Marian Seldes (winner)
• John Glassner Award - Tina Howe (winner)

1984 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...

(finalist)

External links

• Lortel Archives, Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, "Painting Churches", McGinn-Cazale Theatre
• Lortel Archives, Internet Off-Broadway Database listing, "Painting Churches", Lamb's Theatre
• Internet Movie Database listing for telefilm, 1986
• "New York Times" review of regional production, June 8, 1986