David Berry (writer)

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David Berry, the screenwriter for The Whales of August, is a playwright and screenwriter whose first film script was this adaptation of his own play. The play was initially produced as a staged reading in the "First Stage" program of Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland in 1980. It was also presented in Providence, Rhode Island, as a regional theatre premiere, by Trinity Repertory Theatre in 1981 where it was directed by Trinity Rep's Artistic Director, Adrian Hall. Whales of August had its New York City premiere off-off Broadway in a production at the WPA Theatre in 1982 directed by William Ludel and its Chicago premiere at the Victory Garden Theatre in 1984, directed by Dennis Zacek.

Berry's first play, G. R. POINT, won him an Obie Award for Distinguished Playwriting and a Drama Desk Nomination for Best New American Play in 1977. The play was produced on Broadway in 1979, directed by William Devane and starring Michael Moriarty, Michael Jeter, and Howard Rollins, Brent Jennings, Lori Tan Chinn and others.

Berry has taught playwriting at the National Theatre Institute of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, as well as for the Worcester, Massachusetts, Consortium for Higher Education. In 2005 he began teaching screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He continues to write for both theatre and film.

[edit] Casting

The film's producer, Mike Kaplan, happened to see the play at Trinity Rep while he was visiting Rhode Island on family business. Kaplan, who had met Lillian Gish many years earlier when he was a publicist involved in The Commedians (1967), decided immediately that the role of Sarah Webber in Whales was a role that would introduce new generations of filmgoers to the great talent of the First Lady of American Film.

As opposed to a stage production, Whales as a movie made it possible to showcase stars who were the age peers of the characters. Actors and actresses of a certain age and stature were contacted to see if they were both interested in and physically capable of playing the roles. Many screen greats were approached to play a role but demurred because they suffered from various infirmities, e.g., Shirley Booth, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred Astaire, Paul Henried. Other greats turned down the producers' overtures for other reasons, e.g., Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, Kathryn Hepburn, John Geilgud. Even Bette Davis and Lillian Gish turned down the parts more than once before being persuaded to star in the film.

Berry, Lindsay Anderson (the director), the cinematographer, a location scout, and Mike Kaplan traveled by water taxi to several islands in Casco Bay searching for a location that would provide the necessary ambiance and ocean vistas for the film. In the end, the film was shot a few miles down the Bay from the site of Berry's family cottage on Peaks Island, from where, in fact, the characters and story were drawn. The film's premiere in New York City on October 14, 1987, was followed a few weeks later by a State of Maine premiere in Portland, Maine, which was attended by both Berry and Kaplan.

Whales (the film) proved immensely popular in Tokyo, running for a full year there. David Berry authorized several stage productions in Japan after the film premiered in Tokyo in 1987, the most recent being in 2005. Authorized stage productions have been presented overseas in several countries including Russia, Greece, and Great Britain.