Johnny No-Trump
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'Johnny No-Trump' is a play written by Mary Mercier which ran for one performance on Broadway.
Johnny No-Trump opened at the Cort Theatre on October 8, 1967 and ran for one performance and 5 previews. Directed by Joseph Hardy, it starred James Broderick, Sada Thompson, Pat Hingle, Don Scardino, and making her Broadway debut, Bernadette Peters.
The comedy-drama concerns a teen-aged young man, who wants to leave school to be a poet, trying to come to terms with himself and his family. The play takes place in February 1965, in a small Long Island, New York town. The family consists of Harry Armstrong (over 60) Johnny's uncle, Florence Edwards, the mother, Alexander Edwards, her estranged husband, Johnny Edwards, their 16-year old son, and Bettina, a "very grown-up" 15-year old neighbor. [1]
In his review, critic Clive Barnes wrote : "There are times when the characters...seem to be talking with absolute truthfulness...within seconds the play... is offering slick gibberish." [2] Barnes wrote after it closed "...I regret [it] was abruptly taken off by its producer before it had a chance to get a word-of-mouth resuscitation." [3] One of the producers, Richard Barr, in announcing the closing, stated: "The fact that the critics did not appreciate that this play was so far above the level...of almost any American play for the past few seasons indicates to me that there is a great struggle ahead for sensitive, intelligent, talented playwrights." [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Johnny No-Trump, a play in two acts by Mary Mercier, copyright 1966, Dramatists Play Service
- ^ New York Times, October 9, 1967, p. 60
- ^ New York Times, October 20, 1967, p. 53
- ^ New York Times, October 10, 1967, p. 55
