''Three Days of Rain'' is a play by
Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by
South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from
W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death" (1967). The play has often been called
Stoppardian but Greenberg says he wasn't aware of Stoppard's work before he wrote the play but instead claims 1967 BBC series
''The Forsyte Saga'' was a much greater influence. ''Three Days of Rain'' was nominated for the 1998
Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Plot
Walker and his sister Nan met in an unoccupied studio in lower
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in 1995. Walker, who had disappeared the day after his father's funeral, now months later is living in this apartment where his father, Ned Janeway and business partner, Theo Wexler, once lived and worked designing the famous "Janeway House". Walker has found their father's journal and attempts to use it to understand the relationship between Ned and Theo. Nan and Walker's childhood friend Pip (Theo's son) meets with them after the reading of Ned's Will, where the three have learned that Janeway House was left to Pip rather than Ned's children. Walker is furious and accuses Pip of "working on" Ned to bequeath him the house. Pip denies this and protests that he does not understand why the house was not left to Nan and Walker as next of kin. Pip reveals that he doesn't even like the house, which prompts another tirade in Walker. Fed up with Walker's ranting, Pip fights back at Walker verbally. Pip accuses Walker of secretly being in love with him for 18 years and reveals that he (Pip) and Nan were secretly sleeping with one another (behind Walker's back) when they were young. Walker runs off into the night. Pip says he may have gone too far and agrees with Nan to sell Walker the house. Nan tries to find Walker to tell him. Distraught when unable to find him, Nan decides to stay at the studio until he returns. After Walker returns, Nan apologizes and the two of them continue to parse Ned's concise and mysterious journal which opens with the entry: "''1960, April 3–5. Three days of rain''". Walker believes he's found a confession from Ned, hidden within the pages of the book, to the effect that Ned took credit for Theo's work on the house after Theo's death in 1966. Nan does not accept this interpretation but acquiesces to calm her brother. She tells Walker that Pip would sell him the house, but Walker's new-found "revelation" changes his mind about wanting it. Walker burns the diary, much to Nan's chagrin.
The second act shifts to an earlier time, with the same three actors portraying members of the previous generation in the same studio apartment, during April 1960 when Janeway House was designed. The actor portraying Walker becoming Walker's father Ned, the actor portraying Pip becoming Pip's father Theo, and the actor portraying Nan becoming Nan and Walker's mother, Lina. The assumptions made in the first half about the parents are shown to be wildly inaccurate. Ned is not the callous, silent patriarch he seemed to the children. Instead he is a shy stutterer, who, while an immensely talented architect, has trouble making eye contact or holding a conversation with anyone. Theo is revealed to be a charismatic man, more concerned with fame and the ''idea'' of art, than the creation of any original art itself. Lina, a bohemian southern belle, is dating Theo and their arguments are loud enough to inform the entire neighborhood. Theo and Ned attempt to design a house commissioned by Ned's parents, but Ned recognizes Theo's design as plagiarizing an existing house. Ned and Theo fight, and Theo leaves for a few days to try to work in solitude.
A few days later, Ned runs into Lina during a rainstorm, and they return to the apartment to escape the downpour. Ned invites Lina to stay for dinner, which leads each to reveal issues plaguing them. Lina resolves to leave before succumbing to Ned's unintentional shy sweetness, only to overhear Ned practicing telling Lina that he secretly loves her. Lina confronts Ned, and they spend three days in bed. Theo returns earlier than expected from his work retreat, finding Ned and Lina together in the apartment. He is embarrassed and leaves, with Ned trailing him. Ned attempts to apologize, but learns Theo is upset not about Lina but about failing to return with an original design. Lina persuades Ned that Theo will be okay, and that Ned should apply his emotions to draw the house she knows he imagines. He sits down to draw, suggesting that it was he who designed Janeway House and not Theo, as Walker had concluded.
Characters
Walker/Ned
''Walker'': A quirky and unstable young man, haunted by what he sees as a destructive and unloving relationship with his parents. He has a habit of disappearing suddenly in order to avoid dealing with real life.
''Ned'': Walker and Nan's father who, despite his son's depiction of him as cold and uncaring, was in his youth a stuttering, shy, and talented architect.
Pip/Theo
''Pip'': A proudly naïve TV actor and family friend of the Janeway's. Handsome, and not as dumb as he looks, he is constantly frustrated by others taking their lives so seriously, and can't fathom why people see the need to incite drama.
''Theo'': Pip's father and Ned's business partner. A very charismatic man who is more interested in fame and the accolades that come with it than creating the art that would earn it.
Nan/Lina
''Nan'': A practical, kind woman. Caring about her family and friends, she finds it difficult to balance her frustration at her brother Walker's craziness and Pip's naiveté.
''Lina'': Nan and Walker's mother. A southern belle, easily changeable and tempestuous, beginning to show some of the signposts of mental instability.
Productions
''Three Days of Rain'' premiered at the
South Coast Repertory Second Stage,
Costa Mesa, California in March 1997. The director was Evan Yionoulis, with the cast that featured
John Slattery (Walker/Ned),
Patricia Clarkson (Nan/Lina),
Jon Tenney (Pip/Theo), and Julia Pearlstein.
New York premiere
The play received its
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
premiere at the
Manhattan Theatre Club, at City Center Stage II, running from November 12, 1997, to January 4, 1998. Directed by Evan Yionoulis the cast featured
Patricia Clarkson,
John Slattery and
Bradley Whitford. The play won the 1998
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...
, Direction, and was 1998 Drama Critics' Circle Award Runner-Up, Best American Play.
The play was a finalist for the 1998
Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The play has enjoyed many subsequent productions in regional theatres across the United States and abroad.
UK premiere
It received its
British premiere in 1999 at the
Donmar Warehouse with
Colin Firth,
David Morrissey and
Elizabeth McGovern
Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.
Born in Evanston ...
.
Steppenwolf
The Steppenwolf Theater Company produced the play opening February 11, 1999. It starred
Tracy Letts,
Amy Morton and Ian Barford and was directed by
Anna D. Shapiro. The ''Chicago Tribune'' review states that "In ''Three Days of Rain'', Greenberg has constructed an almost perfect showcase for his considerable talents, and Steppenwolf has responded with a director, Anna D. Shapiro, and a castTracy Letts, Amy Morton and Ian Barfordthat gives his script a lovely, burnished glow in performance."
Broadway
Arguably the most famous production to date was on
Broadway, with
Julia Roberts making her stage debut.
Ben Brantley, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reviewer wrote: "And though Ms. Roberts gives a genuinely humble performance, there is no way that this show is not going to be all about Julia."
[Brantley, Ben]
"Theater Review - 'Three Days of Rain'
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', April 20, 2006
Opening in April 2006 at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Roberts co-starred with
Paul Rudd and
Bradley Cooper. Although it may have been the most eagerly awaited show of the Broadway season in the popular press, it met with poor response from theatrical reviewers and closed as scheduled in June 2006. The ''New York Times'' reviewer summed up the experience: "Some movie fans may have the same fear about seeing Ms. Roberts in the flesh. They shouldn't. She looks every inch the magnetic (if theatrically challenged) movie star. Fans of Mr. Greenberg, on the other hand, should definitely stay home."
[
]
West End
A production of ''Three Days Of Rain'', directed by Jamie Lloyd played at the Apollo Theatre in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
from February to May 2009, starring James McAvoy as Walker/Ned, Nigel Harman as Pip/Theo and Lyndsey Marshal as Nan/Lina.
The Very Little Theater
The Very Little Theater in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
produced ''Three Days of Rain'' in April 2011. The cast consisted of Jay Hash as Walker/Ned, Sydney Behrends as Nan/Lina, and James Lee as Theo/Pip. The production was directed by Sarah Etherton.
South Coast Repertory
David Emmes was the director of the production at South Coast Repertory in Orange County, California
Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...
, beginning in May 2011. It starred Kevin Rahm as Walker/Ned, Brendan Hines as Pip/Theo, and Susannah Schulman as Nan/Lina. This was the first time the play returned to South Coast Repertory since its premiere in 1997.
defunkt theatre
''Three Days of Rain'' was produced by Portland, Oregon's defunkt theatre in 2013. Directed by Tom Moorman, starring Matthew Kern, Christy Bigelow and Spencer Conway.
Portland Center Stage
''Three Days of Rain'' was presented at Center Stage in Portland, Oregon in May 2015, with two stars from the NBC drama '' Grimm'' in the cast: Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell.
American Theatre Company
''Three Days of Rain'' was produced by the American Theatre Company of Brussels in February 2020, directed by Jeremy Zeegers.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Days Of Rain
1997 plays
Broadway plays
Plays by Richard Greenberg
Plays set in New York City
Fiction set in 1995
Fiction set in 1960