And Things That Go Bump in the Night

McNally received a Rockefeller Foundation grant,Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim and Schanke, Robert A.

[https://books.google.com/books?id=f0fbSlGN8uUC&dq=And+Things+That+Go+Bump+in+the+Night+McNally+Guthrie&pg=PA273 "McNally, Terrence"] The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era (books.google.com), University of Michigan Press, 2005, {{ISBN|047206858X}}, p. 273 and wrote And Things That Go Bump in the Night. McNally had the understanding that the play would receive a public performance at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. However, the University of Minnesota said that, in a misunderstanding, "the project did not necessarily involve production or public performance" according to Donald Smith, Assistant Vice President for Academic Administration. McNally planned on presenting the play for "himself and the director, Lawrence Kornfeld" from February 3 through February 6.Zolotow, Sam. "Kopit Withdraws Plays in Dispute", The New York Times, January 13, 1964, p. 26 The University of Minnesota did finally permit the production to take place with an invited audience in February 1964.Zolotow, Sam. "First Musical Set By Actors Studio", The New York Times, February 4, 1964, p. 30

And Things That Go Bump in the Night premiered on Broadway on April 26, 1965, at the Royale Theatre. Directed by Michael Cacoyannis, the cast starred Susan Anspach (Lakme), Robert Drivas (Sigfrid), Eileen Heckart (Ruby), Clifton James (Fa), Ferdi Hoffman (Grandfa) and Marco St. John (Clarence). The play closed on May 8, 1965, after 16 performances and six previews.Ballet, Arthur H, ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=k4IiWrWZiqEC&dq=mcnally+Bump+Night++Susan+Anspach&pg=PA160 "McNally"] Playwrights for Tomorrow: A Collection of Plays, Volume 1, U of Minnesota Press, 1966, p.159, {{ISBN|0816603812}}[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/10226/And-Things-That-Go-Bump-in-the-Night " And Things That Go Bump in the Night Broadway Listing"] playbillvault.com, accessed April 17, 2014

And Things That Go Bump in the Night was the first McNally play to be produced at a legitimate theater. The Broadway production opened to generally negative reviews.[http://parade.condenast.com/273718/dotsonrader/playwright-terrence-mcnally-the-most-significant-thing-a-writer-can-do-is-reach-someone-emotionally/ "Playwright Terrence McNally: 'The Most Significant Thing a Writer Can Do Is Reach Someone Emotionally' "], Parade Magazine, March 24, 2014 One review said, "It would have been better if Terrence McNally's parents smothered him in his cradle."Healy, Patrick. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/theater/mcnallys-mothers-and-sons-gauges-a-changed-america.html# "Theater. A Playwright’s Status Report"] The New York Times, February 27, 2014 McNally recalls, "Actually, two reviews of my first play mentioned my death." Nevertheless, the production ran to sold-out houses for three weeks after the producer lowered the price of tickets to one and two dollars.Marks, Peter. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/12/AR2010031200148.html Playwright "Terrence McNally's love of opera takes center stage at Kennedy Center"] The Washington Post, March 14, 2010Hadleigh, Boze. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7HNofesJcG0C&dq=ticket+McNally+%22And+Things+That+Go+Bump+in+the+Night%22&pg=PA165 "Who's Afraid of Terrence McNally?"] Broadway Babylon: Glamour, Glitz, and Gossip on the Great White Way, Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony, 2013, {{ISBN|0307830136}}, p. 165

Before it was over twenty thousand people saw the play in New York. Moreover, the play garnered enough favorable notice for McNally to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966. A second review in the Village Voice was generally favorable, as quoted in the Samuel French acting edition: "…the most impressive new American play I have seen this season…" by the Village Voice.[http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/12985/and-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night And Things That Go Bump in the Night] samuelfrench.com, accessed March 2, 2016

The play depicts a vaguely apocalyptic and futuristic family transformed by fear, living in their basement, and treating each other with suspicion, threats, and contempt. Family loyalty has been destroyed and everyone engages in dark and disturbing games. The mother Ruby, a faded opera diva, is egotistical and manipulative. Thirteen-year-old daughter Lakme engages in malicious sibling rivalry with her brother Sigfrid, charming but unfeeling. The father Fa spends most of his time sleeping in his chair ignoring the chaos around him. Into this mix a friend named Clarence visits for the evening. Since Clarence is hopeful and idealistic, the family feels compelled to destroy him. Clarence fights a losing battle against the culture of fear surrounding him aided sometimes by crotchety Grandfa who remembers when the family was not ruled by fear.[http://www.northdenvertribune.com/2012/02/bump_in_the_night/ " 'Bump in the Night' at the Bug Theatre shows effect of culture of fear"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415043058/http://www.northdenvertribune.com/2012/02/bump_in_the_night/ |date=2014-04-15 }} North Denver Tribune, February 28, 2012

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• {{cite book|title=And Things That Go Bump in the Night |author=McNally, Terrence|year=1966|publisher=Dramatists Play Service|location= New York|oclc=291924}}

• {{IBDB show|8632}}

Category:Plays by Terrence McNally

Category:1964 plays