Next (play)
{{short description| A one-act play by Terrence McNally}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox play
|name = Next
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|writer = Terrence McNally
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|premiere = July 16, 1967
|place = White Barn Theatre, Westport, Connecticut
|orig_lang = English
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Next is a one-act play by Terrence McNally. The play opened Off-Broadway in 1969.
Plot
At the comedy's center are Marion Cheever, a middle-aged, overweight, debt-ridden, divorced father of two who mistakenly has been called by the draft, and Sergeant Thech, a no-nonsense female examining officer. A battle-of-wits is waged between the "sad sack" determined to avoid military service and the career officer just as determined to sign him up.[http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsM/mcnally-terrence.html " 'Next' "] doollee.com, accessed April 26, 2014
Starting out as an amusing incident, Cheever ends up showing "hatred and contempt" for his country.Gent, George. "T.V: Chilling View of War: Terrence McNally's 'Apple Pie' Offers Three Original Dramatic Vignettes", The New York Times, March 15, 1968, p. 79
Production history
The original version of Next premiered at the White Barn Theatre, Westport, Connecticut on July 16, 1967.{{cite book|first=Terrence |last=McNally|title=Apple Pie: Three One Act Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkVk1sB35bMC&pg=PA16|year=1969|publisher=Dramatists Play Service Inc|isbn=978-0-8222-0061-1|pages=16–}} The play was then produced on television Channel 13 in New York City in March 1968. The role of Marion Cheever was played by James Coco.McNally, Terrence. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wkVk1sB35bMC&dq=%22Terrence+McNally%22+%22Next%22&pg=PA15 {{"'}}Next' Original Version"], Apple Pie: Three One Act Plays, Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1969, {{ISBN|0822200619}}, p. 16.
Paired with Elaine May's Adaptation,Rich, Frank, [http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/9/22/the-new-boston-theatre-season-the/ "The New Boston Theatre Season: The Good, the Bad, and the Loeb"], The Harvard Crimson, September 22, 1969. Next opened Off-Broadway on February 10, 1969, at the Greenwich Mews Theatre, where it ran for 707 performances. James Coco and Elaine Shore were directed by May.Guernsey, Otis L. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Tlz1UV4jTr8C&q=%22Elaine+May%22 "1968-1968"], Curtain Times: The New York Theatre, 1965-1987, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1987, {{ISBN|0936839244}}, p. 137.[https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/Adaptation/-Next-328007.html "Adaption/ Next 1969 at Greenwich Mews Theatre"], broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 21, 2015. May won the 1969 Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Director.[http://awardsandwinners.com/category/outer-critics-circle-award/1969/ "Awards, 1969"], Outer Critics Circle (awardsandwinners.com). Retrieved April 26, 2014.
Critical response
Clive Barnes, reviewing for the New York Times, wrote that the two plays "are just plain marvelous-funny, provocative and, in their way, touching". Of Coco's victim, "This is gorgeous acting, rich, stylish, impeccable."Barnes, Clive. "Theater. Off Broadway Brings a Happy Double Bill: Elaine May Makes Life a TV Party Game McNally Tells Story of Improbable Draftee", The New York Times, February 11, 1969 , p. 27
Peter Wolfe (professor of English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis) wrote of the play : "...the line between victim and tormentor blurs...part of the play's merit stems from both the ambiguity of McNally's attitude towards his people and his ironical treatment of them."Wolfe, Peter. "Two", The Theater of Terrence McNally: A Critical Study, McFarland, 2013, {{ISBN|0786474955}}, p. 46
Further reading
- Terrence McNally : 15 short plays, Terrence McNally, Smith and Kraus, Lyme, NH, c1994, {{ISBN|1-880399-34-2}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121019142656/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3665 Lortel Archives listing]
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