Stevie (play)
{{Short description|1977 play by Hugh Whitemore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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Stevie is a 1977 play by Hugh Whitemore, about the life of poet Stevie Smith. The play's two-week, pre-London engagement was at the Theatre Royal, Brighton. The production opened March 23, 1977, at the Vaudeville Theatre with Glenda Jackson as English poet and novelist Stevie Smith and featured Mona Washbourne and Peter Eyre. It was directed by Clifford Williams.{{Cite web |title=Glenda Jackson"STEVIE" (Smith) Mona Washbourne/Peter Eyre/Hugh Whitemore 1977 Brighton, England Tryout Playbill at Amazon's Entertainment Collectibles Store |url=https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-Washbourne-Whitemore-Brighton-Playbill/dp/B07YK5LRY5 |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.amazon.com}}{{Cite news |last=Watts |first=Janet |date=2017-03-17 |title=Glenda Jackson on playing poet Stevie Smith – archive, 1977 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/mar/17/glenda-jackson-poet-stevie-smith-interview-1977 |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
The play received a film adaptation in 1978 directed by Robert Enders, with Glenda Jackson, Mona Washbourne, Alec McCowen and Trevor Howard.{{cite web |last1=Whitemore |first1=Hugh |title=Stevie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O11ByQEACAAJ |website=Google Books |publisher=S. French |access-date=27 October 2021}}{{Cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=1981-06-19 |title=GLENDA JACKSON FROM LONDON IN 'STEVIE' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/19/movies/glenda-jackson-from-london-in-stevie.html |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Plot
British poet/author Stevie Smith lives with her beloved aunt. Her life story is told through direct dialogue with the audience by Stevie, as well as flashbacks, and narration by a friend known as "The Man". The main focus is on her relationship with her aunt, romantic relationships of the past, including her boyfriend Freddie, and the fame she received late in her life. Stevie escapes her dull middle-class existence through her poetry. Though she takes many spiritual flights of fancy, she never truly leaves the suburban house wherein all the action takes place.
Production history
The Manhattan Theater Club produced the play in 1979 with Roberta Maxwell, Margaret Hilton, and James Higgins. It was directed by Brian Murray{{Cite news |last=Gussow |first=Mel |date=1979-02-19 |title=Stage: ‘Stevie’ Dramatizes Poet's Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/19/archives/stage-stevie-dramatizes-poets-life-childlike-poet.html |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Cesear's Forum, Cleveland's minimalist theatre company, presented the play at Kennedy's Down Under, Playhouse Square in January/February 2003 with Sheila E. Maloney, Lee Mackey and John Kolibab. It was directed by Greg Cesear.{{Cite web |last=Howey |first=Christine |title=Could Be Verse |url=https://www.clevescene.com/arts/could-be-verse-1481454 |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Cleveland Scene |language=en}}
Minerva Theatre, Chichester presented the play in May 2014 with Zoe Wanamaker, Lynda Baron, and Chris Larkin. It was directed by Christopher Morahan. {{Cite news |last=Gardner |first=Lyn |date=2014-05-05 |title=Stevie review – Zoë Wanamaker brings Smith's poetry alive |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/05/stevie-review-smith-minerva-chichester-zoe-wanamaker |access-date=2024-01-31 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The production transferred to the Hampstead Theatre for a March/April run in 2015.{{Cite web |title=Stevie: ★★★★ from The Times |url=https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/news/2015/03/stevie-from-the-times/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Hampstead Theatre}}